Starborn Saviour
by Spectres'n'Knights
Summary: Cassandra had been baffled when some of the Inquisition's soldiers had brought in a warrior wearing the most unusual set of armour that she'd ever seen, with bizarre objects attached - somehow - to said armour. Novelisation of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Shepard Inquisitor. Default MShep/Josephine. Part I of the Starborn Saga. Part IV of the Starborn Continuation. Tarot by geeky-jez
1. Preface

**Title:** Starborn Saviour

 **Crossover:** Mass Effect/Dragon Age

 **Genre:** Adventure/Romance

 **Pairing** **(s)** **:**

Shepard(M)/Josephine M (main)

Aeducan/Morrigan (featured)

Hawke(M)/Fenris (featured)

Shepard(M)/Ashley W (mentioned)

Shepard(M)/Miranda L (hinted)

 **Author:** Spectres'n'Knights

 **Disclaimer:** Mass Effect universe and Dragon Age universe © BioWare

Any character you haven't heard of © me

 **Summary:**

 _Cassandra had been baffled when some of the Inquisition's soldiers had brought in a warrior wearing the most unusual set of armour that she'd ever seen, with bizarre objects attached - somehow - to said armour. The man also had numerous injuries that should have been fatal, as if he had survived an explosion he had been in the centre of._ Novelisation of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Shepard Inquisitor. Default MShep/Josephine


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

 _ **Location: Serpent Nebula / Andraste System / Thedas / Base of the Frostback Mountains**_

 _21 years and 11 months after the end of the Reaper War_

Master Dennet was just over seeing the last of his horses when Shepard and Josephine arrived at the stables.

"Master Dennet." The marine greeted the Fereldan man as they drew level. "These the last of your charges?"

"They are, Your Worship. Lady Montilyet, your carriage is waiting for you. I didn't want to leave until I was sure that you were away first."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Shepard apologised, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Not blaming you, Your Worship. With what you've been through, I figure you've got the right to be a little slow."

"Hey, where are you going? Get back here!" one of Dennet's hands suddenly called out, drawing Shepard's attention away from the horse master. Stepping to the side, the vanguard saw his Brecilian Sure-Foot mount, Josmaël, striding towards him with the incensed stable hand chasing after him.

"Hey, bud," Shepard softly greeted the Hart when the beast came to a stop in front of him. Reaching his remaining hand up, he stroked the majestic animal's head. "I'm afraid that you won't fit in where I'm headed. You're better off sticking with Master Dennet." Reaching to one of the Hart's ears, he began to scratch the skin under it. Within moments, Josmaël had closed his eyes and had tilted his head to further the point of contact.

Man and beast stayed that way for a little while until Shepard drew back, catching the Hart's lead rope as he moved and led him over to the hand.

"He should behave himself now." Shepard told the stable hand as he handed off Josmaël's lead rope. The teenager stared at the Spectre, wide eyed. "I may have spoiled him a bit. Just give him a carrot or two when he starts to play up, that should make him amenable."

"T-thank you, Your Worship," The young lad stammered a little as he gripped the rope, and Shepard saw that he was fighting to stop himself from dropping his gaze to the former Inquisitor's missing forearm. "And I will."

Shepard turned back to Dennet as the Hart was led away, offering the older man his hand. "I can't thank you enough for supporting the Inquisition, Master Dennet."

Dennet took the offered hand and shook it. "I was proud to help, Your Worship. And may I say something? You might not have been born here, but with what you did for us, I dare say I can speak for us all when I say you're one of us now."

Shepard could only nod, the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat keeping him from talking.

Josephine seemed to know what he was planning to say next and she spoke his line for him, "Safe travels back to your farm, Master Dennet."

"The same to you, Lady Montilyet," Dennet returned graciously before taking his leave of the pair.

"Shall we, Milady?" Shepard gestured to the coach once his ability to speak had returned.

Josephine nodded her head and took his arm as they walked towards their ride. Their gear had been brought down from Skyhold much earlier in the day, so all the pair had to do was board and they would be on their way.

As they neared, the coach hand opened the door and the Spectre helped Josephine into the carriage before turning to address the coach driver. "There's a small forest with a clearing in the middle a couple of kilometres south of here," Shepard told the man - he'd seen the spot countless times during his travels to and from Skyhold and had advised his XO, Miranda Lawson, to send the shuttle there for extraction. "Take us there first."

Though the coachman looked perplexed at the order, as it took them away from their intended route to Jader, the man acknowledged the instruction with a nod of his head. "At your order, Your Worship."

Nodding his own head, Shepard climbed in - slightly struggling without a second hand to grab onto things with - to join Josephine. After the door was closed and the coach hand had taken his place by the driver, they lurched briefly as the horses moved off.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

The pair spoke of old and familiar topics during the first part of the journey to try and keep their minds off of what was about to happen for just a little while longer. But Shepard didn't fail to notice that despite their mutual distraction attempts, the closer they got to their destination the more Josephine's lower lip began to tremble.

When the first tear rolled down the Antivan's cheek the marine put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him. She went without a struggle, burying her face into the crook of his neck.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

When they arrived, Shepard stepped out of the carriage first, his eyes scanning his environs to see if there was anything amiss. Seeing no signs of danger or - more importantly - cloaking distortions, the Spectre sighed. Miranda had given him a general ETA for the shuttle's arrival, but the marine knew that that was bound to change if EDI detected any movement in the area that wasn't the Normandy's CO.

And the last of Dennet's plant of horses definitely counted as movement.

A large part of him had been hoping and praying that the horse master would be well past the area by the time he and Josephine got there.

While having to say goodbye immediately would have been hard, akin to ripping off a band-aid, it would be over and done quickly and they could be on their respective ways. But waiting? It was going to be nine shades of hell to get through. Josephine was already in an emotional state and that was only going to get worse with time to fret. And as she became more distressed, Shepard knew that he wouldn't be far behind her.

"Any sign?" Josephine asked as she stepped out of the coach once he had let her know that the coast was clear.

Shepard shook his head as he turned back to face her. "EDI would have alerted Miranda to Master Dennet's movements through the AO. So no shuttle."

"And how long before she deems it safe enough?"

"An hour or so, most likely. Miranda knows my stance on over exposing Thedas, so she'll only send the Kodiak once she's absolutely certain that things are quiet down here."

"We wait?" Josephine asked as she looped her arms around his remaining one.

"We wait." He confirmed.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

With time to kill, Shepard's mind had begun to wander to what Thedas was about to face.

The marine didn't know if Solas was expecting this move from him, but he had no choice. He would need to be at a hundred percent if he had any chance of turning the Elvhen Rebel away from his destructive path - hopefully without resorting to violence, but he would need to be prepared if the hedge mage left him no choice - and protect Thedas from the untold horrors that could rip its lands apart.

But leaving to get the necessary treatments to fix and replace his missing forearm as well as the various implants and eezo nodules throughout the affected area meant that he would have to say goodbye to the woman that was currently clinging to him like a second skin: Lady Josephine Montilyet; eldest child of the noble Montilyet family from Antiva. Former Ambassador and chief Diplomat for the Inquisition, she was an eminent figure in diplomacy, forging relations with grace, charm and careful favors. She had worked for years as chief ambassador from Antiva to Orlais prior to the Inquisition's rebirth. But when the unrest in Thedas had hit boiling point she had been asked to join the Inquisition, where she had tirelessly played her part in restoring the ancient organization to its former glory.

And she was also the love of his life.

 _Funny how a man has to go to a completely unknown planet to find the one for him. The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways,_ the vanguard couldn't help but think with a slight smile.

But he couldn't muster any more happiness then that, not with Josephine's face once again nestled in the crook of his neck. He could feel her tears as they trickled down his skin, feel her petite form tremble against his every time she heard what she thought was the Kodiak's engines, heralding the shuttle's arrival.

She had been this way ever since he had announced his intention to return to his world once the Inquisition's disbandment was complete.

As her family's heir apparent, he knew that she had an obligation to her family and he also knew that she did not take her responsibilities lightly. But he was the man that she loved and he'd just gone through something terrible and she'd made it plain that she wanted to be there for him and support him throughout his recovery.

But he, knowing that what he was about to undergo would not be pretty, hadn't wanted her to see him that way. It was only after promising - truly, making him repeat his vow many, many times promising - that he would return, that he had managed to convince her that her family needed her more then he did at that moment that she'd accepted it.

But she had made it quite clear to him that she would still hate seeing him go.

 _And damn if she wasn't true to her word,_ the marine thought as he did his best to comfort her.

Suddenly his radio crackled to life, and Shepard tilted his head to mask the movement of his remaining hand to cover his ear so he could hear the communiqué.

 _"Shepard-Commander, this is Ghost. Are you receiving this transmission?"_

"I copy, Ghost. Go ahead," Shepard replied in a soft voice so that only Josephine could hear his side of the exchange.

 _"The Kodiak has landed. I am en-route to your position."_

"Cloaked?"

 _"Affirmative,"_ the geth Hunter responded.

"Where are you coming from?"

 _"I am currently north-east of your beacon."_

"There's a clump of three trees, on the edge of the forest, due south and about two hundred meters away from where I'm standing. Stay there, I'll come to you," Shepard told the synthetic.

 _"Understood, Shepard-Commander. I will wait for you at the designated area."_

As Shepard lowered his arm, Josephine drew back a little.

"This is really it?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"It is," he confirmed.

Josephine's face crumpled, and she buried herself against him again.

Hating to see her this way, the Spectre began to stroke her ebony hair, mindful of not mussing up her hairdo, as he softly started to sing to her.

 _~We read the wind and the sky_

 _When the sun is high_

 _We sail the length of the sea_

 _On the ocean breeze_

 _At night we name every star_

 _We know where we are_

 _We know who we are, who we are~_

He had sung this song countless times whilst he'd been here, staring up at the night sky, hoping and praying that the Normandy would find him.

But now, his perspective had changed and as he began to sing the next verse, he pulled back a little ways so that he could make eye contact with her in order to stress the message he was trying to get across.

 _~Aue, aue,_

 _We set a course to find_

 _A brand new island everywhere we row_

 _Aue, aue,_

 _We keep our island in our mind_

 _And when it_ _'_ _s time to find home_

 _We know the way~_

 _ **You're**_ _my island now, my home, and I'll be back by your side just as soon as I'm able._

The song and his silent vow seemed to settle her a little, but he knew it wouldn't take long before she was openly weeping again.

Also knowing that it wouldn't take Ghost long to reach them and that it was time for them to go their separate ways, Shepard raised his hand to her chin and tipped her head up as he lowered his. Their lips met, and as the marine focused on pouring every ounce of emotion he possessed into the kiss to reassure Josephine, her hands were moving also, one gripping the front of his armor while the other went to the back of his skull, her fingers threading through his short sable locks as she returned his emotion and passion ten-fold.

Eventually, however, the need to breathe forced the couple to part.

Shepard rested his forehead against hers and they remained wrapped in each other for a time before he, reluctantly, stepped away from her.

"Here." With a slight struggle, the Spectre removed his long coat and placed it over Josephine's shoulders. "Not exactly matching fashion, I know. But you'll need it more than I do."

The act brought on a fresh wave of tears and she wrapped herself around him again.

"I will be back, Ke aloha, you have my word," Shepard vowed to her, his voice slightly gruff as he fought not to cry himself.

"I know you will. It's just..." she trailed off.

"I know," he murmured as he gently ran his hand up and down her back.

And he did.

Saying goodbye to Cassandra, Varric, Dorian, Bull and all of the others had been hard enough. Saying goodbye to Josephine - even temporarily - was a hundred times worse.

To try and make things light again, Shepard suddenly spoke up. "Y'know, I know you said I can be irresistible, but this has got to be a new record or something. I mean, you've hardly taken your hands off of me since we got here."

The comment, out of place as it was, got the desired effect and Josephine began to smile as she lightly smacked his chest plate in response. Shepard could still see the lingering sadness in her eyes, but she seemed to understand what he was trying to do and was grateful for it if the giggle she let out was anything to go by.

He took a step back and bowed deeply before her, offering his remaining arm to her - the action a replica of his actions at the Winter Palace three years prior, "Your carriage awaits, Lady Josephine."

She took his hand. "Thank you, Captain Shepard," came her gracious response as he straightened up and chauffeured her to the carriage.

As he helped Josephine get back into the coach, Shepard's eyes drank in the sight of the woman he loved, doing his absolute best to commit every last detail of her appearance to memory for the long months of separation that lay ahead. She was dressed as someone who was used to finery and yet her outfit was not ostentatious or overstated. Her bodice was a deep royal purple that was surrounded by draped and pleated satin. Often in Skyhold, he had been enthralled when the yellow fabric would catch the light from the candle on her ever present clipboard, making it shine like gold and turning molten whenever she moved. More than once she had caught him staring and had blushed in response at the attention.

Once she was in and seated, he went to step back, but Josephine grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Te amo. Voy a extrañarte tanto." Josephine murmured to him in her native tongue as a few tears rolled down her cheek.

"Eres el amor de mi vida, querido. Yo regresare. Te prometo," he responded without hesitation as he reached out to wipe away her tears with his thumb before cupping her cheek.

She smiled warmly at him before she closed her eyes and leaned into the caress.

"Beg your pardon, Your Worship," the driver hesitantly spoke up, breaking the couple's moment. "But we need to get going if Lady Montilyet is to catch her boat back to Antiva."

Josephine just let out a sigh in lieu of words.

"Don't think of it as goodbye, just 'see you around,'" Shepard offered as he lowered his hand.

"I know. I just can't help but worry that the Citadel Council will-"

"I'm not going to turn my back on Thedas," the Spectre cut her off, his tone hard. Realising that his anger was starting to get the best of him - and that it was flaring because of Josephine's distress at their impending separation - he stopped and took a few calming breaths before he continued. "I _won't_. I **can't**. Not now. And anyone who knows a thing about me knows I don't make those types of vows lightly. And as for the Council," Shepard shrugged, "well, them being displeased with the decisions I make isn't exactly anything new. Nor is my reaction and response to them trying to shut me down. I'll be back. Rain, hail or shine." At her look of disapproval, however, he quickly added, "But the Council aren't stupid. They know that I know Thedas' culture and am a respected individual within these lands. There's no better person suited to an ambassadorship to bridge relations between them and a nearby planet that, until now, they had no idea was even there. Thedas may not be space-fairing yet, but the planet is still unique and may have mining resources that are valuable to the Council."

Though he could see she was still worried, and she gave a smile at the later part of his speech, she seemed to choose to let it go so that their departure was on a more positive note and simply offered, "Take care."

"I will. And I'll be back before you even know that I'm missing."

Josephine gave him a half smile. "If only that were true."

With a final nod of his head and a brief peck to Josephine's lips, Shepard shut the coach door before stepping back to where his bags were.

"Safe journey," the marine offered to the driver.

"The same to you, Your Worship," came the man's reply as he flicked the reins to get the horse team moving. The carriage circled around him, allowing him to blow a final kiss to Josephine, before returning to the road and setting off for Jader.

It wasn't long before Shepard could hardly see the coach in the distance. He continued to stand there, however, long after the carriage had vanished from sight, just watching the road and softly singing to himself.

 _~Down the way where the nights are gay_

 _And the sun shines daily on the mountain top_

 _I took a trip on a navy spaceship_

 _And when I reached Thedosa I made a stop_

 _But I'm sad to say I'm on my way_

 _Won't be back for many a day_

 _My heart is down, my head is turning around_

 _I had to leave my_ _l_ _ady-love in Antiva town_

 _Sounds of laughter everywhere_

 _And the dancing girls sway to and fro_

 _I must declare my heart is there_

 _Though I've been from Sol to Galactic Core_

 _But I'm sad to say I'm on my way_

 _Won't be back for many a day_

 _My heart is down, my head is turning around_

 _I had to leave my_ _l_ _ady-love in Antiva town_

 _Sad to say I'm on my way_

 _Won't be back for many a day_

 _My heart is down, my head is turning around_

 _I had to leave my_ _l_ _ady-love in Antiva town~_

After what felt like twenty minutes or so his radio sprang to life once again. _"Shepard-Commander-"_

"I know, Ghost," Shepard cut the synthetic off. "Just... give me a minute."

After a few more minutes, Shepard snapped out of his funk and picked up his bag, hoisting it onto his good shoulder before turning and striding to where the Hunter was waiting.

"Are you alright, Shepard-Commander?" Ghost asked the human as Shepard came to a stop beside it.

Even though the geth was cloaked, Shepard could still _just_ make out through the distortions that the flaps around the Hunter's optic were posed to make it look curious about what it had just observed.

"Not really, Ghost," the Spectre admitted as he tried to fight off some of his melancholy. "But that's for me to deal with. Do a lap around the perimeter, check that there's no one close."

"Understood, Shepard-Commander. Executing command."

With barely perceptible foot falls, the geth left to attend to its task.

Following Ghost's example, Shepard set off towards the clearing.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Ten minutes later, Shepard entered the clearing where the shuttle was parked.

After putting his luggage down, the Spectre had practically fallen into one of the shuttle's seats, grateful to be out of the hot sun as his heavy plate was practically cooking him alive.

"You okay, Captain?" Hawthorne asked, watching Shepard as he tried to get comfortable, the scale mail the marine was wearing making that near impossible as it dug into his skin despite the cotton undershirt he was wearing. But while the sight of seeing Shepard in such old-fashion armour should have kept Hawthorne's attention, the shuttle co-pilot's gaze kept falling to the Spectre's missing forearm.

Shepard noticed his eyes roving and sighed. "I'm fine, Lieutenant. These kinds of injuries might not happen that often nowadays, but they still do happen. Wounds of war and all that."

"That's not what I..." Hawthorne started to say but then trailed off.

"Ghost reported that you... ah... were with someone when he got a visual lock on you..." Cortez took up the line of questioning.

Shepard raised an eyebrow at the bold question. "Prying, Lieutenant?"

"Uh..." the shuttle pilot looked down sheepishly at his CO's penetrating stare.

"I'm fine, Cortez. And this isn't - wasn't - goodbye," Shepard clarified, dropping his steely facade. "Just 'see you later.'"

"You're coming back? After what's happened?" Cortez asked, his head jerking back up at the revelation, his surprise at his CO's decision evident in the look on his face and in his tone of voice, though he kept his eyes squarely on Shepard's face and not the tied up scale mail. Hawthorne also showed a similar look of shock.

"I don't have much choice."

Cortez tilted his head in a 'please explain' gesture when Shepard didn't continue.

Shepard sighed, not really in the mood for conversation as his mind was still preoccupied by Josephine, but he spoke anyway. "There are events that have been put into motion here that will cause untold death and suffering if I don't at least **try** to guide the one responsible away from his chosen path."

"Another seemingly impossible task?"

Shepard gave a humourless smile. "It must be a curse."

To stop any further questions, Shepard raised his remaining hand to his ear. "Ghost?"

 _"Yes, Shepard-Commander?"_

"What's your report?"

 _"The Area of Operation is clear of any organics that would be startled or alarmed by the Kodiak's departure."_

"Good. Egress back to the shuttle. We'll leave as soon as you're back on board."

 _"Understood, Shepard-Commander. Executing order."_

Shepard sighed tiredly as he let his head fall back against the shuttle wall.

 _I can only imagine the tongue lashing that Chakwas has in store for me once she sees me. Of all the insane and idiotic things I've ever done, this has to be the worst. And this is only the start of something that could be ten-fold worse then what I've just been through_ _._

"I am back, Cortez-Lieutenant," Ghost reported a few minutes later as it's Tactical Cloak deactivated, revealing the navy-coloured geth sitting in the seat to Shepard's left.

"Alright, closing the hatch. Next stop; Normandy,"

As he felt the Kodiak leave the ground, Shepard couldn't help but let his mind wander to all that he'd been through over the last four and three quarter years.

 _Just another routine mission that turned into something else entirely._

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Translations:**

"I love you. I am going to miss you so much."

"You're the love of my life, beloved. I will return. I promise"

 **Acronym Index:**

AO; Area of Operations

CO; Commanding Officer

XO; Executive Officer

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Songs Used:**

"We Know The Way" from Disney's Moana © Disney

"Jamaica Farwell" by Harry Belafonte - a few changes made to make it world/galaxy appropriate

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Authors Notes:**

So here I go with another AU novelisation.

Unlike Invictus however, this Shepard is default faced.

For those curious, his name is Jonas-Jeremiah, but he goes by Jon or JJ. He's Earthborn/War Hero/Soldier-turned-Vanguard. He's a mostly Paragon Paragade who went the Paragon route with the major decision in the games. He romanced Ash in ME and stayed faithful to her in 2, but broke up with her after the Coup because of her lack of trust in his loyalties and he didn't romance anyone in 3

As for the Dragon Age side of things; my Warden was Bhartol Aeducan who romanced Morrigan and disappeared with his mysteriously magical lover at the end of Witch Hunt. My Hawke was named Daemon, a - mostly - diplomatic mage who supported his ilk and friendship romanced Fenris despite their differences.

If anyone wants to read both Worldstates to know my various decisions in both franchises, just drop me a line.

As for they story itself, Starborn is Part One of the Starborn saga that will encase DAI, the interim time between the games and - hopefully - DA4.


	3. The Wrath of Heaven

**The Wrath of Heaven**

 _ **Galactic Year: 2204CE**_

 _4 years and 11 months earlier_

 _ **Location: Unknown**_

Pain was what drew Shepard back to the land of the living, the aches and pains his body was feeling rousing him to wakefulness. Slowly he pushed off the ground and put himself into a kneeling position. Shaking his head to clear out the cobwebs, he focused his mind to recall what had happened to him.

He vaguely remembered the Kodiak's crash, how his kinetic shields and hastily constructed Barrier had mitigated most of the damage he could have received as he'd struggled to evacuate the burning shuttle, though his armour showed a few scorch marks from the initial explosions. He also vaguely recalled seeing some sort of building in the distance and how he had begun to make his way towards it, hoping to find some way of getting in touch with the Normandy to arrange a pick-up.

But after that?

Nothing but blackness and shadow.

After a moments rest, he slowly got to his feet - though he swayed slightly once upright until he got his bearings back. Once his equilibrium had returned, the marine checked his HUD to make sure that his hardsuit was in working order before turning his attention to his surroundings.

 _Where in the Void am I?_

The environment around him was like none he'd ever seen before: the sky was a hazy green and the ground beneath his feet was blackened and sickly. Unsure if the air was breathable, he chose to leave is helmet on and double checked that his hardsuit was properly sealed. After confirming that it was, he raised his eyes to the horizon to see if there was anything of note in his environs.

A ramp in the distance caught his attention.

 _A good a place as any for me to try and figure out where the heck I am,_ he thought to himself, drawing his HMWA Assault Rifle and holding it loosely across his body as he set out at a sedate pace.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Reaching the base of the rocky outcropping, Shepard paused a moment before he began to climb it. He was about halfway up when ghastly moans started to fill the air behind him and the marine's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't heard the sound for some time, not since the end of the Reaper War, but he knew what was responsible for it.

Husks.

Risking a glance over his shoulder, the marine cursed as he saw the particular type that were chasing after him; Abominations. Shepard stopped running immediately and turned to face the Reaper ground forces, opening fire with his assault rifle, expertly hitting some of the kamikaze zombie-like creatures.

He stood his ground for about half an hour, his stock of thermal clips slowly dwindling, as wave upon wave of Abominations tried to reach him and overrun his position, but they fell from the soldier-turned-vanguard's incredible accuracy with his rifle and erupted in a visceral explosion of gore and taking scores of their brethren with them, which in turn set off more explosions of the volatile units behind.

Realizing that the waves were unending, the marine started to slowly walk backwards, retreating to the higher ground, and slowing his shooting to the occasional three-shot burst.

 _I can draw them up to the top and then use Charge to haul ass and get away._

As he was shuffling backwards, he glanced behind him to judge the distance to the top. Movement at the top of the outcropping caught his eye. _What is that? Someone else stuck here?_

Arming several of his HE grenades before swapping his HMWA for his HMWP Heavy Pistol, Shepard dropped his deadly payload before disappearing with a crack of displaced air. Reappearing at the top of the ramp, he saw a wispy, almost angelic, golden figure - a woman's figure - waiting for him, an arm outstretched and hand extended.

Without thinking, the marine reached for the proffered limb.

Two things happen in rapid succession following that action; the nerves in his left arm suddenly coursed with a surge of indescribable pain that soon ran through the rest of his body and then the world around him erupted into a barrage of iridescent green energy. When the latter faded, Shepard's darkening mind just barely registered that he was no longer where he had been before.

Then he collapsed forward, his HMWP slipping from slackening fingers and clattering away from him as the darkness claimed him.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Haven**_

 _Summerday, 1st of Bloomingtide, 9:41 Dragon_

Cassandra had been baffled when some of the Inquisition's soldiers had brought in a warrior wearing the most unusual set of armour that she'd ever seen, with bizarre objects attached - somehow - to said armour. The man also had numerous injuries that should have been fatal, as if he had survived an explosion he had been in the center of.

Although he was out cold and therefore not a threat, she had searched him for any weapons and had found and removed two knives - one on his left thigh and the other on his right boot - before putting him in a stock and posting a dozen guards to keep an eye on their prisoner.

Shortly after, Leliana had brought an apostate named Solas before her.

The elf had witnessed the creation of the Breach and had sought out the fledgling Inquisition in order to join it. According to the Inquisition's Spymaster, knowing that his unique knowledge of the Fade would be of use, the mage had entered the Inquisition's camp voluntarily and had surrendered his staff to Chantry forces without protest. He had been granted permission to study the lone survivor of the Divine Conclave's explosion and one of the smaller rifts, in hopes of finding a way to seal the Breach and help the prisoner. Using healing magic and minor wards, Solas had also managed to prevent the mark on their prisoner's hand from growing and save the stranger's life.

Cassandra had been shocked days later when Solas and Adan had both reported that the man was recovering from his wounds faster than what should have been possible, and she, believing that the apostate was responsible for the stranger's speedy recovery, had threatened to have him tried and executed.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _2nd of Bloomingtide_

"His advanced healing is not of my doing, Seeker," The hedge mage responded to her threats when she'd had him hauled before her, "nor is it your alchemist's. Whoever this man is, he clearly possesses some sort of ability to recover quickly from any wound or injury that he receives."

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _4th of Bloomingtide_

A day and a half had passed since that meeting.

Some in Haven had grown restless at the lack of retribution for what the outsider had done and had attempted to take justice into their own hands. Thankfully, Varric had been with Solas at the time and had used his crossbow to dissuade the dissidents from their course of action and leave the stranger be.

Hours ago, Solas had reported that the man had finally woken and that she would be able to talk to - interrogate - him before the elf and Varric had left the village to seek out one of the smaller rifts to study.

Stepping into the room, Cassandra nodded her head at half of the guards. The men sheathed their swords and stepped back allowing her to pass, though they remained tense and ready to spring back into action if needed.

The stranger watched her as she came to a stop before him, a guarded and wary look in his eyes but his face betrayed nothing else.

 _So, this is the man responsible for the destruction of the Conclave,_ Cassandra thought to herself as she locked eyes with him. _This is Most Holy's murderer._

 _This is Galan's murderer._

At that last thought, Cassandra's mind drifted back to the immediate aftermath of the explosion.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _3 days earlier_

A hoarse scream rips its way out of her throat as she falls to her knees at the sight of the levelled Temple, the immensity of what's happened crushing her.

 _Galyan, oh, Galyan! Maker_ _ **no**_ _, Maker_ _ **why? !**_

All around her the people of Haven came out of their homes to stare up at the thing that has appeared in the sky in the explosion's wake but she pays them no heed lost as she is in her grief.

Never again would she hear his voice.

Never again would she see his goofy face.

The only man she'd ever loved, his life snuffed out long before it should have been.

Gone, he's _gone._

She screams out again, tears streaming down her face, as horror and rage begin to boil inside of her as she watches the explosion dissipate. All the lives lost, not just Galyan's and Justinia's.

She _**will**_ have answers, will find, and punish the one responsible for this unspeakable act.

Then maybe she can join Galyan at the Maker's side.

Suddenly Leliana is at her side, pulling her to her feet, saying something that Cassandra doesn't hear and begins leading the way to the Temple.

They're almost at the Temple, have received reports that someone has survived the blast - a stranger suited in an even stranger set of armour - when another explosion rocks what remains of the Temple taking more lives of the men that were trying to get the stranger out of the ruins.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now?" Cassandra growled at the stranger, the grief she was feeling over Galyan's loss fuelling her fury. "The Conclave is destroyed! Everyone who attended is dead! Except for you."

"You think I'm responsible." The man stated gravely. "I'm not."

"Then explain this!" Cassandra reefed the man's left arm up to reveal the mark on his palm. "Or the fact that you killed more of the Inquisition's soldiers as they tried to move your body?!"

The man's brow furrowed at her words before he looked down at his hip. "Shit. My heavy pistol..." He looked back up at her. "Your men touched it, I assume? Only Spectres can handle HMW gear safely."

"What do spirits have to do with what you did? !" Cassandra snapped back.

"Toto, I'm not in Kansas anymore," the man muttered to himself, confusing Cassandra even more - which in turn only made her angrier.

Knowing that if she stayed she would likely do something that she would later come to regret, she decided that she needed to leave in order to cool down. "When I return, I expect you to start talking sense," she told her prisoner curtly as she let his arm drop before turning and leaving the room.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Leliana was in the main part of the Chantry, speaking with Josephine when Cassandra stormed out of the jail.

The Spymaster turned her head to regard Cassandra as she approached.

"No luck?" She questioned the Left Hand as she came to a stop near her.

Cassandra made a sound of disgust. "He speaks in riddles."

"Riddles?" Josephine repeated.

Cassandra sighed as she tried to shake off some of her frustration. "He's making no sense with the answers he gives me. Perhaps you might have better luck with him, Leliana."

Their conversation paused as a group of soldiers strode past the three women and out of the Chantry to join their brothers and sisters in the fight against the demons. Cassandra caught a brief glimpse of the Breach before one of the men closed the doors, which focused her mind on why she was talking to the prisoner in the first place. Turning back to Leliana, she asked, "Anything from Solas?"

"His last report said that he is still no closer to discovering how to close the Breach." Leliana reported.

"And the fighting?"

"Getting worse as more demons pour through. We need to find a way to seal the Breach. And soon."

Feeling suitably calmed enough to try and talk to their prisoner again, Cassandra said her goodbyes to Josephine and departed.

Leliana fell into step with her as she returned to the prison.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Stepping into the cell behind Cassandra, Leliana finally got a good look at their prisoner.

The man looked to be in his late forties, perhaps early fifties. He was handsome, though Leliana doubted he was the sort of man who knew or cared for such things. His face had a stern stillness to it, a serious look clouding his cobalt eyes as his captors entered the room. He had a strong jaw dusted with stubble, his hair - possibly sable in color, though in the prison's low light it was hard to be sure - was cropped short against his head.

"Are you going to be sensible now?" Cassandra barked at the man.

The sound of the Seeker's voice snapped Leliana out of her study of their prisoner and back to the situation at hand.

"I was being sensible, you simply don't understand what I'm saying," the stranger responded.

"Do you have any more of those things on you?" Cassandra demanded.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Shoulders. Back. Back of my waist."

 _The blocky objects,_ Leliana realized.

"Remove them, Sergeant!" Cassandra barked at one of the guards.

" _ **No!**_ " The stranger tensed at the order immediately, drawing back a little as his body began to give off a hazy blue glow.

"You're not in the best position to resist here, mage!" The soldier growled as he advanced.

"I'm only doing so because I know what will happen if anyone else but myself does so. Please, _don't do this!_ I'm **begging** you! ! _**What happened at the Temple will happen again if you do! ! !**_ "

The desperation in their prisoner's tone of voice as well as his rising volume as he spoke caught Leliana's attention.

"Hold a moment, soldier," she spoke for the first time since entering the room and the soldier paused at her command. "And what happened at the Temple?" The spymaster asked the stranger.

"The security protocols activated." He explained, his volume dropping once he was sure that the objects weren't going to be touched. "My HMWP only showed you a small taste of the destruction these things are capable of. The larger armaments could do a lot more damage. Possibly even level this building."

" _ **Is that a threat? !**_ " Cassandra snarled as she strode foreword and placed the tip of her blade to the man's throat.

"No. It's a matter of fact. I know my gear and what it's capable of in the wrong hands," The man stated, not at all fazed by the steel that was biting into his skin and drawing blood. "Look, if I had really wanted that to happen, why would I bother about saying anything? Why not just let your men remove my guns and then high-tail it out of here once the dust had settled?"

"This is assuming that you survive the blast as well." Leliana pointed out.

The prisoner said nothing in response, but there was a confident look in his gaze that silently said that he would indeed be able to survive such events if they occurred, which again piqued Leliana's interest.

Like Cassandra, she had recognized that this man was different.

"Who are you, stranger?" Leliana asked the man.

"The name's Shepard," the man responded automatically. "Captain Jon Shepard. Alliance N7 marine, agent of the Citadel Council's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch and commanding officer of the SSV Normandy SR-2."

"'Reconnaissance'?" Leliana repeated, latching onto the one word in the litany that didn't make her head spin. "A spy?"

The man tensed. He'd not meant to reveal that particular tidbit given his situation, it seemed - or hadn't thought the implications through before he'd said it - but the introduction was clearly something he'd said to others before.

Others that understood the entirety and meaning of it all.

"In a sense, I am," the stranger admitted, unable to take it back.

"Who sent you?!" Cassandra cut in angrily. "Why did you blow up the Conclave!?"

" _What? !_ " The man recoiled, utter horror in his eyes at the accusation. " _ **NO!**_ I would **never! !** "

Leliana noted that a brief look of guilt crossed the man's face despite his protests before his impassive mask fell back into place.

 _He has done something like this before._ Leliana realized.

But given Cassandra's rage and grief over Regalyan's death, the spymaster chose not to bring her observation to the Seeker's attention.

 _She'd likely kill him on the spot if she knew._

"You're lying!" Cassandra surged forward, dropping her sword so that she could grip the collar of the man's armour, raising a hand as if to strike him.

"We need him, Cassandra." Leliana reminded the Seeker as she put a restraining hand on the Nevarran's shoulder and pulled her back.

Though clearly angry, Cassandra obeyed the command, both verbal and physical, and allowed Leliana to continue questioning the stranger without further outbursts since Leliana was getting more answers - answers that, for the most part, made sense - out of him then Cassandra had.

"Do you remember anything? How this happened?" The Right Hand asked their prisoner once she'd turned back to face him.

"I'm just as in the dark as you two are," the man responded, his face open and earnest. "The last thing I remember is heading out in one of the Normandy's shuttles to check out a strange energy signature that had appeared in the Widow System. The Kodiak's instruments went haywire and I was blinded by a flash of light. Next thing I know, I wake up here - so to speak - running from Abominations that were chasing me. And then… a woman?"

"A woman?" Leliana repeated.

"She reached out to me, but then…" The prisoner shook his head, clearly frustrated at his lack of memory. "Everything goes black after that."

Cassandra stepped between their captive and Leliana, breaking the spymaster's gaze with the man. "Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take him to the rift."

With a nod of her head, Leliana turned on her heel and left the building.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Once Leliana had left, Cassandra turned back to the prisoner and began to remove the stock.

"What did happen?" He asked, his tone of voice plaintive, once his hands were free.

"It is better if I show you," Cassandra responded as she gestured him to stand.

She had to pause to stare at him for a moment when he did so - he was easily a head and a half taller than her - before directing him to go first.

The stranger didn't move. "Before we go, you got a large-ish chest that I can use?" He asked.

"For what?" Cassandra furrowed her brow at the request.

"My weapons. I want to remove them."

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "You refused to do so before. Why now?"

"I didn't refuse, I simply didn't want anybody else to do it." He pointed out.

"Answer my question!" She snapped, not in the mood for his games.

"Because they'll be useless soon enough," the stranger replied patiently. "And I'd rather not be the cause of any further grief so I want to lock them up to make sure that that doesn't happen as a sign of good faith."

"Very well," Cassandra relented before turning to one of the soldiers still in the room. "Sergeant, find an empty chest and bring it here."

"Right away, Lady Cassandra." The soldier responded, though he glowered at the prisoner as he passed him.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

The soldier returns fifteen minutes later - with another man in tow, aiding him with his appointed task - with the requested chest and set it down at the prisoner's feet.

"Thank you."

The soldier said nothing in response to the prisoner's gratitude as he returned to his post.

"Try anything and I will strike you down," Cassandra warned her prisoner, her hand resting warningly on the pommel of her sword - which she had retrieved and sheathed whilst waiting for the soldier to return - as he reached for one of the blocks. With his height, solid build and magic he could easily try to escape if he wanted to, which put her on her guard.

"Noted." The man nodded, solemnly pausing for a moment, and making eye contact with her to show that he had heard her before returning to his task. With practiced ease the man - _Shepard. His name is Shepard_ \- removed his strange armaments and placed them in the provided container. He also placed a pouch full of what looked to be spherical objects on top of the blackish-grey blocks before stepping back with a nod of his head to indicate that he was done.

The chest was then locked and moved out of sight and Cassandra gestured at the door.

Shepard moved off without hesitation this time.

He walked only a few steps in front of her, his pace steady and he made no sudden movements that would alarm her, as she led him out of the Chantry, a few of those inside stopping to stare at the oddly armoured man. When the doors of the building were opened and the pair stepped through, Shepard paused, flinching as the brightness hit his unprepared eyes and he raised his still rope-bound hands to cover them until they adjusted.

Cassandra stepped to the side, her eyes on the Breach as she began to speak. "We call it the Breach," she told him. "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It's not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave."

"An explosion can do _that_?" Shepard questioned.

Something in his tone of voice made Cassandra turn to look at him.

He was watching the Breach with rapt attention, though his face showed a myriad of emotions; shock, horror, curiosity, and rage to name a few.

"This one did. Unless we act, the breach may grow until it swallows the world."

Behind her, though unseen to her with her back to it, the Breach surged and grew. At the same time, Shepard tensed, suddenly crying out in pain as he fell to his knees, cradling his left arm with his right. "And here I thought the Prothean beacon was bad where pain was concerned..." Shepard muttered to himself as he recovered from the pain as best he could.

Though not understanding his strange words Cassandra knelt at his side. "Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads… and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this but there isn't much time."

"You say it may be the key. To doing what?" He asked.

"Closing the Breach. Whether that's possible is something we shall discover shortly. It is our only chance, however. And yours."

"You still think I did this?" He scoffed, an incredulous look overtaking his features. "To myself?"

"Not intentionally. Something clearly went wrong."

"And if I'm not responsible?" He demanded.

"Someone is, and you are our only suspect. You wish to prove your innocence? This is the only way."

Taking a breath, he seemed to come to a decision. "I understand."

"Then…?"

"I'll do what I can to help." He stated. "Whatever it takes to prove that I didn't do this."

Cassandra helped Shepard to his feet and began to escort him through the village. Like in the Chantry, the people of Haven watched her lead the warrior through the buildings, but their stares were mistrustful and accusatory. Some jeered and leered at him while others shouted for his execution.

"They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together. Now, they are dead."

At the far side of the settlement, soldiers opened a set of gates leading to the outside at their approach.

"We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves, as she did. Until the breach is sealed." Cassandra drew a dagger from her belt before she stepped in front of Shepard, grabbing his hands so that she could cut the rope. "There will be a trial. I can promise no more. Come. It is not far."

"Where are you taking me?" He asked while rubbing his now freed wrists.

"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach." she informed him as she sheathed her dagger and began to walk towards the far end of the bridge, trusting that Shepard was following her.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: en route to the Temple of Sacred Ashes**_

"Open the gate! We are headed into the valley!" The woman - Cassandra - called to the soldiers that were manning the gates.

Shepard felt bereft and vulnerable without any sort of weapon on him as he followed her, but he still had his biotics if push came to shove.

 _Plus, with all the fighting going on, I should be able to pick up a sword and shield somewhere along the way. Here's hoping my old training is still buried in me somewhere._ As a young man, he'd gone to a number of renaissance fairs and medieval reenactments with his adoptive mother, brother and sister. _Never thought that_ _ **that**_ _set of skills would come in handy again, but if they can keep me alive long enough to make contact with the Normandy, I'm not complaining._

Passing through the opened gates, Cassandra began to lead them up a slope. As they moved up the path, Shepard took the time to study the Breach off in the distance.

To the marine, it looked like the center of a storm, turbulent and churning like a tornado wanting to take shape yet never extending down to the ground. He was also reminded of the permanent, giant storms that marked the atmosphere of Jupiter and Neptune - especially after they stabilized. It was neither growing nor diminishing, but staying fixed like a constant swirling mass of energy.

Ahead of them, several soldiers were coming down the slope, heading back to the village.

"Maker, it's the end of the world!" Shepard heard one of them shout as they passed by each other, drawing the Spectre's attention back to the path that they were traversing.

Suddenly another surge of excruciating pain erupted in his left hand as the Breach once again expanded and Shepard fell to his knees, his breaths turning shallow from the agony he was feeling.

 _Goddamned, motherfucking, cheap-ass, son-of-a-_ _ **bitch!**_ He cursed a litany of less than Christian words in his mind as he tried to work through the hurt.

Eventually the pain began to recede and he began to recover.

 _Cerberus implants or no, I'm not going to last if this keeps up,_ he dimly thought.

When he became aware of his surroundings again, he saw that Cassandra was at his side, offering a hand to help him up.

"Thanks," he offered her his gratitude once he was back on his feet - albeit a little shakily.

"The pulses are coming faster now." Cassandra informed him as she kept a hand on one of his arms, offering herself as a support until he was able to stand on his own. "The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face."

"How did I survive the blast?" He asked once he was steady, though he was holding his still tingling hand.

"They said you… stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you'll see soon enough."

Once Shepard was up to walking again, the pair set off once more.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"What is this? _'Everything go wrong for Shepard'_ day?" Shepard grumbled to himself as he slowly picked himself up off the ground.

A minute ago, they'd been crossing another bridge that would take them further into the valley when the bridge had been hit by some sort of meteor and had collapsed, sending himself and Cassandra tumbling down onto the frozen river below. Others on the stone crossing had not been so lucky and a now-dead soldier had landed on top of the marine as he'd been trying to get back on his feet the first time. Pushing the unfortunate man's body off of him, Shepard stood up only to see the Breach spit out another meteor. It hit the frozen river a short distance in front of where Cassandra was standing and something, something grotesquely ugly, rose - _Formed?_ \- from the pool of green light.

Cassandra instantly drew her sword and shield before moving to engage the monster. "Stay behind me!" She shouted to him as she moved.

Shepard allowed his biotic corona to flare as he looked for an opening to attack the beast without hitting Cassandra.

But his attention was suddenly diverted when another of the creatures popped up right in front of him.

 _Shit!_

Acting on instinct, the vanguard thrust out his right arm and used Throw to send the monster flying. He then turned back to the dead soldier and drew the man's sword from its scabbard.

Though it had been years - over two decades - since he had last wielded such a weapon, Shepard felt at home with the blade's weight in his hand almost immediately.

 _Guess it's just like riding a bike; you never really forget how._

Suitably armed for the time being, Shepard moved to help his companion finish off the beasts, running one through as it tried to ambush Cassandra from behind.

"All clear," the marine reported a minute later, making sure to glance around their surroundings to be sure, allowing his biotics to dissipate as he did so. He immediately manifested them again seconds later when Cassandra turned her sword on him.

"Drop your weapon." She growled. "Now!"

Shepard sighed. "All right. Have it your way," the marine responded as he let go of the sword and it clattered to the ground. "But you do know that if you're going to lead me through a monster-infested valley, you'll have to trust me eventually," he pointed out as he kicked the blade away in a further show of good faith on his part.

"Give me one reason to trust you." Cassandra shot back.

"Because my life is on the line." He returned evenly.

Cassandra let out a sigh of her own at his words. "You're right. I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenseless." She agreed and gestured for him to reclaim his sword, which Shepard bent to retrieve in an instant. "I should remember that you agreed to come willingly."

Sure that she wasn't going to do anything more to threaten him, Shepard turned on his heel and strode back to his sword's previous owner. When he reached the body, the marine knelt down and gently closed the man's eyes before he made the sign of the cross on himself. "May you find peace at God's side. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen." Shepard murmured to the man.

His respects paid, Shepard moved to remove the man's sword belt before turning the body over to retrieve his shield.

"What kind of mage needs a sword and shield?" Cassandra questioned him as the marine stood and secured the belt to his waist before cleaning and sheathing the sword in its scabbard.

"I'm not a mage," the marine responded without looking up, instead reaching for the shield.

Realizing that his left Hahne-Kedar gauntlet was going to prevent him from using the shield comfortably, he removed it before sliding the shield into place on his arm.

 _Modern armour; good for Milky Way weaponry, not so much for medieval._

"Then what do you call what you did? What you're still doing?" Cassandra questioned and Shepard looked back up at her to see her warily watching the purple-blueish haze that blanketed his entire body.

Realising that his corona was still on show, he let it fade. "My attacks and abilities may look like magic but they're not. Where I come from, what I do - what I am - are known as biotics."

"Biotics?" Cassandra repeated the strange word, sounding it out syllable by syllable as if that would somehow allow her to understand what it meant.

Shepard sighed. "I'll explain it all later, I promise. For now, though, shouldn't we be focusing on the whole 'end of the world' thing?"

"Very well," the woman relented. "But I intend to hold you to that promise, just so you know."

"Understood." He responded before he looked to where the creatures had popped up. "What were those things, anyway? Other then mean and nasty?"

"A demon. A Shade to be exact."

 _Mages... demons... magic... Just where the heck was I sent by the anomaly?_

"Where I'm from, demons are things of stories. Definitely not real enough to tear into you," He mused.

"And just where are you from?"

"Even longer story. Not sure you'd believe it either. Where to now?" Shepard asked, hoping to get them back on track.

"This way." Cassandra took the lead. They ran along the frozen river for a time before they turned to the right and traversed a small hill. Near the top there were two corpses garbed in the same armour like the man that Shepard had taken his sword and shield from. It made him realize that, other than the unfortunate souls that had perished on the stone bridge, they'd seen no other sign of anyone else.

"Where are all your soldiers?" he asked Cassandra as they drew closer to the crest of the hill.

"At the forward camp, or fighting. We are on our own, for now." She responded, reaching the top of the hill first and Shepard saw her tense at what she was seeing below.

"Company?" He asked.

"Shades. Four of them," she reported to him. "If we flank them, we may gain an advantage."

"You head down. I can wreak havoc from up here with my biotics. Hopefully I can take out a couple before you engage."

Though she looked doubtful at his words, she followed his orders. Shepard watched her go for a moment before cresting the hill himself and used Lift to levitate two of the demons into the air, well away from Cassandra so that his next technique wouldn't harm her.

Flare obliterated them.

But something caught Shepard's eye regarding the eezo cloud as it dissipated; the blast radius of the technique was much smaller than normal. _I'm not_ _ **that**_ _out of practice with the technique._ Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts as he moved to join and help his companion deal with the remaining Shades.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

They continued their way to the Temple, stopping to deal with two more smallish groups of Shades along the way.

Currently, they were fighting the largest group they'd yet encountered at the bottom of some stone stairs.

Just as they'd finished dealing with the Shades, a new threat arose; three green transparent humanoid figures was all that Shepard noted about them before they raised a limb each and sent several projectiles streaking towards him. He raised his shield to protect himself and when the attacks struck the cover, they scorched the metal a little.

 _Energy based. Won't stand a chance against Warp._

"Up on the hill! It attacks from a distance!"

"Yeah? Well so can I!" Shepard growled.

Without hesitation, he constructed a Barrier to protect himself from another attack, though he furrowed his brow when it took him a couple of tries to do so - _Again odd, I can usually create Barrier on the first try_ \- before he retaliated with his own attack.

The unstable energies of Warp tore the spirit up and it faded from view shortly after.

"You okay?" Shepard asked Cassandra, she'd been hit by one of the Shades as she'd been finishing it off.

"Fine," she replied, shaking off any discomfort she felt. "This way."

Shepard followed the female warrior up the stairs and as they drew closer to the top, the marine's trained ears picked up the sounds of combat on the higher ground. "We're getting close." He stated to Cassandra.

She turned her head to regard him as they continued upwards. "Oh?"

"I can hear fighting." He responded simply.

Cassandra nodded, seemingly impressed by his observation. "We must help them."

"Lead the way."

They quickly climbed the rest of the stairs before turning right at the top of the steps. As he stepped onto the level ground, Shepard got his first look at the smaller tear.

If the Breach looked like a storm, the rift before him looked like a wound in the sky and that observation was strengthen by the fact that it was 'bleeding' a green wispy mist into the air around it. Movement at his side drew him out of his thoughts as Cassandra jumped down from the top of the stone wall, and approached the rift amidst the burning rubble, joining those who were already fighting the beasts.

Shepard joined them seconds later, though he held back on his more destructive biotic techniques for fear of friendly fire and dealt with the threat the old fashion way.

It didn't take long for the demons to be felled by the group.

As Shepard made to step back, one of the group that they'd just joined - an elf - grabbed the marine's left hand and held it up to the rift. "Quickly, before more come through!" The elf shouted.

Before the marine could do anything in response - namely yank his arm back - the mark pulsed and Shepard gritted his teeth at the sudden surge of pain. To his surprise, a stream of energy erupted from his palm and streaked towards the rift before connecting with it. Before his very eyes, and all of those around him, the stream began to shrink the rift until it disappeared entirely.

When the elf let go of his hand, Shepard pulled it back to look at the iridescent green mark that ran horizontally across his palm. "What did you do?"

"I did nothing." The elf responded. "The credit is yours."

" **I** closed that thing?" Shepard asked in shock, still looking at the mark, which shone brightly enough that it could be seen even through his black bodysuit. "How?"

"Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand." The elf responded. "I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach's wake – and it seems I was correct."

Cassandra approached the two men. "Meaning it could also close the Breach itself."

The elf turned his head to regard the human woman. "Possibly." He stated before turning back to Shepard. "It seems you hold the key to our salvation."

"Good to know! Here I thought we'd be ass-deep in demons forever." A dwarf approached Shepard now, the warm smile on his features putting the marine at ease. "Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong." The stout man introduced himself before winking at Cassandra, who scowled in response.

Shepard had to pause to allow his mind to catch up with everything that had happened in the last few minutes. _Dwarves? Elves? What's next? Dragons! ?_

Determined to not look like a fool, Shepard blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Are you with the church, or…?"

And then immediately wanted to slap himself.

He'd only seen humans in the building when Cassandra had escorted him out, so that answer should have been obvious - painfully so - to him.

The elf chuckled in response. "Was that a serious question?"

The dwarf - Varric - answered straight after his companion. "Technically I'm a prisoner, just like you."

Cassandra broke into Varric's statement. "I brought you here to tell your story to the Divine. Clearly that is no longer necessary."

"Yet, here I am." Varric smoothly responded. "Lucky for you, considering current events."

Head still spinning, Shepard at least tried to remember his manners. "It's good to meet you, Varric."

"You may reconsider that stance, in time." The elf wryly responded

"Aww. I'm sure we'll become great friends in the valley, Chuckles."

 _Chuckles? Hello James Vega junior._

"Absolutely not." Cassandra cut in once again. "Your help is appreciated, Varric, but…"

Varric turned to look at her. "Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? Your soldiers aren't in control anymore. You need me."

Cassandra made a noise of disgust before moving past the three men.

The elf regarded Shepard. "My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions." He informed the marine. "I'm pleased to see you still live."

"He means, 'I kept that mark from killing you while you slept.'" Varric translated.

At that revelation, Shepard looked to his caretaker. "You seem to know a great deal about it all." He half mused, half noted.

"Solas is an apostate, well-versed in such matters." Cassandra informed Shepard

"Apostate?" Shepard repeated the unrecognizable term, hoping for an explanation.

"Apostates are mages who are not part of the Circle of Magi and are thus considered 'rebel mages.'" She responded, reading his expression of mild confusion correctly.

"Technically, all mages are now apostates, Cassandra." Solas returned. "My travels have allowed me to learn much of the Fade, far beyond the experience of any Circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I can give with the Breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed regardless of origin."

"Then I owe you my thanks." Shepard offered the elf his gratitude.

"Thank me if we manage to close the Breach without killing you in the process." Solas returned

"And what will you do once this is all over?" Shepard asked.

"One hopes that those in power will remember who helped, and who did not."

"That's a commandable attitude." Shepard noted

Solas shook his head. "Merely a sensible one, although sense seems to be in short supply right now."

"On that we agree." Shepard said, though more to himself than the elf.

Solas turned to regard Cassandra. "Cassandra, you should know: the magic involved here is unlike any I have ever seen. Your prisoner is no mage. Indeed, I find it difficult to imagine any mage having such power."

"Understood." Cassandra nodded her head. "We must get to the forward camp quickly." She stated as she started to move off with Solas hot on her heels.

Varric lingered by Shepard's side for a minute before he, too, moved off. "Well, Bianca's excited!"

"Bianca?" Shepard half repeated, half asked the dwarf as they followed the others.

Varric gestured to the crossbow on his back.

Shepard chuckled. "You named your crossbow?"

Any further conversation between the dwarf and human was stopped by Cassandra's call of "This way, down the bank. The road ahead is blocked."

"We must move quickly." Solas added.

Heeding the Seeker's - _Have to find out what that means_ \- instructions, the unlikely party jumped over some loose wooden railing and onto a narrow path below before continuing on their way.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"Demons ahead!" Solas alerted the group once they were safely past the ravine that their chosen path was the lip of.

"Glad you brought me now, Seeker?" Varric asked as he drew one of his crossbow bolts from the quiver on the back of his waist and loaded it.

Cassandra said nothing as she and Shepard each drew their sword and shield in preparation to meet their opposition.

 _Four Shades and three of those energy ghosts,_ Shepard noted as he flared his biotics around his right arm. Cassandra and Varric could deal with the Shades for the time being while he focused on the long-range threat first.

His priorities decided, Shepard hit two of the ghosts that were close together with Warp. As he moved to target the third, it was suddenly struck by a barrage of energy bolts that zipped by the Spectre first. Shepard turned his head to see that Solas was just turning his own focus to the Shades.

Shaking his own head, Shepard turned to help as well, using Pull to yank a much larger Shade away from Cassandra before crossing the distance to finish it off.

When their enemies were down, Shepard wiped his blade clean on the arm of his bodysuit before sheathing it.

"So, I take it that you're not from around here?" Shepard turned his head to see Varric regarding him as the dwarf collapsed his crossbow and stowed it on his back. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Shepard." The marine supplied. "Captain Jon Shepard, at your service. And what gave me away?" He asked wryly.

"Other than you being dressed in **the** strangest set of armour that I've _ever_ seen and what you just did to those Wraiths, you mean?" Varric responded.

"Is this another kind of interrogation?" Shepard asked, suddenly feeling a little cagey.

"Oh, I'm sure Cassandra has done plenty of that." Varric replied with an unreadable look. "So no, no threats of violence if you don't answer. Just curious is all."

Shepard could see that, despite the dwarf's words, he wasn't going to let the question go until he got an answer. He also realized from the archer's words - and Cassandra's - that Varric must have also been on the Seeker's bad side at some point.

 _"Technically I'm a prisoner, just like you."_

 _Cassandra broke into Varric's statement. "I brought you here to tell your story to the Divine. Clearly that is no longer necessary. "_

Turning his thoughts back to his own dilemma, Shepard sighed.

 _This might not go over well, but if I'm stuck here for the time being, better to get it out in the open sooner rather than later._

"Ever look up at the stars at night? That's where I'm from."

" _ **What? !**_ "

His words were met with the expected reaction. Exclamations of shock. Incredulous expressions. Cassandra stared at him, eyes narrowing as she studied his features, clearly unconvinced.

 _And there goes any trust I'd earned up until this point. Smart move, JJ,_ Shepard thought, inwardly shaking his head at himself and cursing his honesty policy. _She's likely going to think that I take her for a fool from now on._

Before anything else could be said to somehow recover the situation, the Breach - and his mark - surged again. Shepard groaned - _The pain is getting worse with each burst now,_ he vaguely thought - but somehow managed to stay on his feet, though he still swayed dangerously on the spot. Varric and Solas were broken from their stupors at his previous announcement by his pain.

"Shit, are you alright?" Varric was the first to reach him.

Solas looked to Cassandra. "We must hurry, before the mark consumes him."

Cassandra said nothing. Her narrowed gaze was still locked on Shepard.

Seeing this, the marine tried to offer an olive branch so that they could at least work together to see the mission through. "Look, I know you must be thinking that I must think that you're a gullible fool for me to say what I just did, but it's the truth. I know that it might sound far-fetched, but this world and its system? They're just a tiny part of something that's much, much bigger then you can possibly imagine."

Cassandra only made a sound of disgust before turning on her heel and heading up a set of stairs. "This way."

 _Ten feet past six feet under now. Great._ Shepard thought sarcastically as he wordlessly followed.

They were about halfway up the steps when Varric spoke up again. "So… are you innocent?"

Shepard regarded the dwarf who was walking at his side. "I don't remember what happened," he admitted freely.

"Starborn, if you're able to spin a story about where you're from, you should probably be spinning one about **not** killing the Divine."

"Do not encourage him, Varric." Cassandra snapped back over her shoulder before Shepard could say anything of the same effect.

Though his lips formed a small smile at his newest moniker - _What's another to the pile?_ \- Shepard said nothing more. His attention soon shifted from his personal predicament to what was going on around them when he saw Cassandra draw her sword.

"Contacts." The marine announced to Solas and Varric before preparing himself for battle before joining the fray.

The fight was over as quickly as it began and the quartet were soon continuing along the path up the hill.

"I hope Leliana made it through all this," Cassandra worriedly stated as they moved, her eyes on the ruin and destruction that lay all around them.

"She's resourceful, Seeker." Varric consoled the human woman.

"We will see for ourselves at the forward camp." Solas chimed in. "We're almost there."

At the top of the hill they turned left and climbed some more stone steps but before they reached the top, Shepard's mark began to crackle and spark. The marine instantly turned to address Solas. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"That there is another rift just ahead? I believe so." The mage confirmed Shepard's silent question.

Cassandra affirmed their thoughts when she reached the top first. "Another rift!"

Shepard heard a shout of "They keep coming! Help us!" from the top following Cassandra's announcement.

Reaching the top of the stairs and entering the fray, Shepard had just begun to draw his sword when he was suddenly pounced on by a Shade that had popped up behind him and knocked to the ground. The demon then started to pummel it's prey's unprotected head but it was only able to score a couple of hits before Shepard's Omni-blade cleanly sliced off its head and ended the struggle. Using Throw he tossed the lifeless body off him and quickly got to his feet before properly joining the fight.

Once the last Wraith faded away, Shepard turned to the rift.

"Hurry! Use the mark! We must seal it, quickly!" Solas called.

As before, an energy beam lanced out from the mark and began to shrink the rift. Shepard had to steady his left arm with his right when the marked arm began to spasm in reaction to the pain as he did so. When the rift was sealed, Shepard fell to his knees, taking in greedy gulps of air to try, and recover.

"The rift is gone! Open the gate!" Cassandra said to one of the men guarding the gate.

"Right away, Lady Cassandra!" Came the man's prompt response.

Once his head had stopped spinning, Shepard took stock of his injuries. The Shade had managed to break his skin and now a thin trail of blood was winding its way down his forehead. Shepard touched two fingers to the wound and came back with a fresh coating of his lifeblood.

 _Still bleeding? Okay now I_ know _something is up._

Using the tip of his sword, Shepard sliced open the left palm of his bodysuit. Exposing his thumb, he used his blade again to nick the skin and draw blood.

"You okay, Starborn?"

"Fine," Shepard responded, slightly distracted, as he licked the wound clean and then watched the fresh blood pool intently.

"Is something wrong?" Solas asked the marine from somewhere behind him, watching Shepard as the human watched his thumb.

Shepard said nothing for another minute.

 _Blood's not clotting as quickly as it should,_ he mused.

Getting to his feet before he met Solas' curious stare. "This thing," Shepard gestured at the now visible mark, "is affecting my implants."

"Implants?" The elf repeated.

"Devices implanted under my skin. They alter my body's natural functions." The marine explained. "If you were watching over me while I was out, I'm sure that you noticed that I somehow managed to recover quicker than what should have been possible?" Shepard asked.

Solas glanced briefly at Cassandra before meeting Shepard's eyes. "I noticed it." Solas responded.

 _She must have given him grief thinking he was responsible,_ the marine realized.

"Under normal circumstances this," Shepard wiggled his cut thumb at the mage, "would be congealed and healing already. And if those implants are being affected, then the rest probably are as well. Which means I likely won't be able to use my synthetic adrenaline and I'll have to be careful with my biotics."

Shepard felt a little more at ease now that he'd worked out what gremlins were causing him trouble. Picking up his dropped sword, he cleaned and sheathed the blade as he strode into the foreword camp. At the far end of the bridge he spotted Leliana with a man that was dressed in a red and white outfit - _Must be a cleric_ \- locked in a heated exchange that grew louder the closer he and his group got to them.

"We must prepare the soldiers!" Leliana argued

"We will do no such thing." The cleric responded coldly.

"The prisoner must get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. It is our only chance!" Leliana insisted.

"You have already caused enough trouble without resorting to this exercise in futility." The cleric replied, clearly not having a bar of it.

" **I** have caused trouble?" Leliana repeated, her tone incredulous.

"You, Cassandra, the Most Holy – haven't you all done enough already?" The cleric asked in exasperation.

"You are not in command here!" Leliana snapped back.

"Enough! I will not have it!" The cleric said in finality, ending the argument.

Once Shepard was a few steps away from them, the cleric turned his gaze on the taller man. "Ah, here they come."

Leliana turned to see Shepard. "You made it." She said with undisguised relief before turning back to the cleric. "Chancellor Roderick, this is–"

"I know who he is," Roderick turned to look at Shepard briefly before turning his gaze on Cassandra. "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution."

"'Order me'?" Cassandra repeated, clearly not one bit impressed by the command. "You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!"

"And you are a thug," Roderick retorted, "but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry!"

"We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor," Leliana cut in before looking away and quickly finishing, "as you well know."

"Justinia is dead!" Roderick exclaimed. "We must elect her replacement, and obey her orders on the matter."

Shepard narrowed his eyes at the man in response to his words, though Roderick missed it as he was looking at Cassandra.

This was why the marine wasn't one bit fond of politics, though he did understand that they were a necessary evil of the world. His years as a Spectre had taught him that quite well. But seeing people suffer because of the higher ups refusal to take action never failed to get his blood boiling and the marine broke his silence to address the Grand Chancellor.

"Isn't closing the Breach the more pressing issue?" Shepard asked, his tone incredulous at the man's refusal to take action while men were dying all around him.

Roderick whirled on Shepard. "You brought this on us in the first place!" He snapped back. Shepard had to bite his tongue to stop himself from firing something right back at the man as Roderick turned back to talk to Cassandra. "Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless."

"We can stop this before it's too late." Cassandra said as she came to a stop at Shepard's side.

"How?" Roderick replied wearily. "You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers."

"We must get to the temple. It's the quickest route." Cassandra insisted.

"But not the safest." Leliana pointed out, raising a hand to point out one of the nearby mountains. "Our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains."

"We lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It's too risky." Cassandra argued.

"Listen to me. Abandon this now, before more lives are lost." Roderick pleaded with the two women.

Beyond them the now much larger Breach expanded once more and the mark echoed the surge.

Shepard felt his knees buckle as the pain crippled him as a result.

 _I can't keep this up. If we don't seal this thing soon, my body is going to fail,_ he thought as he fought to regain control of his limbs and faculties.

"You okay, Starborn?"

"Just peachy," Shepard replied shortly as he - yet again - pushed off the stone and got back on his feet.

Cassandra was looking at him once he was upright and sturdy. "How do you think we should proceed?"

"Now you're asking me what I think?" Shepard questioned, a tone of skepticism in his voice. Cassandra had barely said two words to him since his revelation - and Varric's nickname and curiosity hadn't helped matters either - and had been calling the shots from the beginning.

"You have the mark." Solas stated.

"And you are the one we must keep alive." Cassandra concluded. "Since we cannot agree on our own…"

S _he's trying to put the whole 'man from the stars' thing on the back-burner for now._ Shepard realized after Cassandra trailed off before he turned his thoughts to carefully ponder the choices presented to him, weighing the pros and cons of each course of action. After a minute of deliberation, he spoke, "I say we charge. I won't survive long enough for your trial if we don't get this thing sealed shortly. Whatever happens, happens now."

Cassandra nodded her head, appearing to be happy with his choice, before she addressed Leliana. "Leliana. Bring everyone left in the valley. Everyone."

With a nod of her head, Leliana departed back the way that Shepard's group had come from to gather the needed reinforcements as the aforementioned party started for the gates.

"On your head be the consequences, Seeker," were Roderick's final words as the group marched past him and onto the chosen path.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

The first part of the path was heavy going, the thick snow and Shepard's collapses when the Breach expanded slowing them considerably.

Varric's questions to Shepard about the Milky Way had also threatened to enact Cassandra's temper on more than one occasion.

 _"So, Starborn, what else can you tell us about this 'big thing' that we're apart of?"_

 _"I told you before Varric;_ **do not encourage him! !** _"_

 _"Can't help it, Seeker. It's too good not to."_

 _Cassandra's response was to stomp on ahead of the men._

 _"I think you made her mad," Shepard dryly noted._

But they pushed on and soon the snow began to thin because of the soldier's movements in the area and were at their destination shortly after, much to everyone's relief.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

The soldiers had set up an advance camp on the mountain and Shepard was currently paying his respects to the lost men in the morgue before he moved on to meet up with the others at the edge of the camp.

"Ready?"

They all nodded their assent.

"Move out."

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

The party were heading up a second set of stone stairs to an open stone doorway when the mark began to spark.

Seeing that, Solas moved ahead to see the battlefield. "Be wary – another Fade rift. We must seal it if we are to get past!" He called back in warning to the others.

"Quickly, then!" Cassandra ordered

"How many rifts are there?" Varric asked in exasperation from behind Shepard.

Movement just beyond the elf caught Shepard's eye then.

"Solas, look out!" The marine shouted as a meteor streaked toward the stone doorframe where the elf was standing.

Without questioning the human's warning, the mage used what was obviously the magic equivalent of biotic Charge - though Solas left a trail of something wispy looking behind him as he moved, and it was cold if Varric's shiver when he went by the dwarf was anything to go by - and dashed to safety before the meteor smashed into the door, killing an unfortunate soldier that was just crossing the threshold to join the battle.

"My thanks." Solas offered his gratitude to Shepard.

"Don't mention it. Shall we?"

The protagonists respectively skirted around the deceased soldier before joining the fight beyond the doorway.

There were four soldiers already engaging the demons. Shepard's eye was instantly drawn to one of them. While he wore armour similar to those around him, he also wore a surcoat over the top with what appeared to be a fur mane topping it. The man's helmet was fashioned to look like a lion's head. He was also giving orders to the men around him about how to engage their enemies.

 _Looks like I've just found the CO of this army._

Stowing those thoughts for later, Shepard joined the fight, stunning the Shade that had moved to attack him with a strike to the head with the pommel of his sword before running it through. The remaining Wraiths and Shades followed shortly after.

"Get ready! Here comes the next wave!" Solas said to the group.

Shepard tensed in preparation as a pool of green energy formed near his feet as a new demon took shape before him.

" _ **SCREEEEE!**_ "

Shepard instantly froze at the sound.

 _A Banshee! ? Here! ? !_

Just like that, he was back on Earth during the final hours of the Reaper War, one of the hideously twisted asari units looming over him after he'd come to a faltering Liara's side. One second he was trying to get his longtime friend to shake out of her own fear, the next he'd been snatched up and the monster had shrieked in his face as it had lined up its nail-like fingernails with his unprotected abdomen...

"Starborn! **Move! !** " Varric's shout snapped Shepard out of his fear induced stupor to see one of the spindly demon's clawed hands streaking towards him. Without even hesitating, the vanguard vanished from sight. He reappeared at the far side of the battlefield. Once he'd got his heart under control, he rejoined the fight, though he caught a dark look from Cassandra as he did so.

 _Going to catch hell for that later, no doubt._

This new demon seemed to be an ambush specialist. If allowed, it buried under the earth and came back up under an unsuspecting victim and then swiped at them to finished them off. With several of them on the field, Shepard's instinct to Charge to safety was tested and fought many times, but he managed to not use the technique and use old fashion rolling and running to get out of harm's way before striking back by hacking off its limbs to make it less of a threat.

When the last demon fell, Shepard instantly moved to close the rift.

Once done, Shepard took a moment to catch his breath before looking for Cassandra.

"Lady Cassandra," the CO started to say to her, but Cassandra ignored him in favor of storming up to Shepard.

 _And here we go... Out of the frying pan and into the fire as they say..._

Cassandra's blade was at his throat before he'd even finished the thought.

" _ **Where were you going! ?**_ " She snarled.

"I wasn't trying to escape. I gave you my word, remember?" He placatingly stated. "And what a Shepard starts, a Shepard finishes." He quoted his family's motto.

"Then what was that? !"

"A knee-jerk reaction. The last time I heard that scream that close to me, the thing responsible for it nearly ran me through." Shepard explained. "I only used Charge to get to safety. That's it. I **wasn't** leaving the battlefield. That's not my style."

"And what is your 'style'?" She asked shortly, clearly annoyed that he was, once again - in her eyes - not talking sense.

"That I follow my people into **any** danger. That I don't expect them to do something that I wouldn't do myself first." He saw that Cassandra's anger began to relent as he continued to speak and slowly, ever so slowly, the tip of her blade left his skin. "I can't promise that I won't react the same way if we encounter anymore of that particular demon and I'll try to work on it." He told her honestly. "But if I do it's only because of that bad experience at the end of the Reaper War."

"Reaper War?" Cassandra repeated.

Shepard chuckled. "At the risk of sounding like a broken record; long story."

"Broken record?" She parroted him again, looking decidedly more perplexed at his strange words than before.

Shepard laughed fully this time. "Later. I'll tell you later."

Solas approached the two humans as Cassandra cleaned her sword and sheathed it before turning to address the CO, though not before shooting Shepard an unsure look.

Which he completely missed wrapped up in his laughter as he was.

"Sealed, as before. You are becoming quite proficient at this," the elf praised the marine as he calmed down from his mirth.

"Let's hope it works on the big one," Varric said.

"No arguments from me there." Shepard agreed before turning his attention to Cassandra's conversation.

"-the rift? Well done." Shepard caught the last of the CO's sentence.

"Do not congratulate me, Commander. This is the prisoner's doing." Cassandra turn to look at Shepard as the marine approached them.

"Is it?" The man turned to look at Shepard, removing his helmet as he did so. "I hope they're right about you. We've lost a lot of people getting you here."

"You're not the only one hoping that." Shepard muttered in return, half to himself and half to the man.

"We'll see soon enough, won't we?" The man returned evenly.

"I can't promise anything, but I'll try my best." Shepard said, trying to sound more confident in his ability to succeed in the task that he'd been given.

"That's all we can ask." The man responded before turning back to Cassandra. "The way to the temple should be clear. Leliana will try to meet you there."

Cassandra nodded her head. "Then we'd best move quickly. Give us time, Commander."

"Maker watch over you – for all our sakes," the Commander returned before he turned and headed towards the soldier's camp, stopping to help an injured soldier that was hobbling away.

"This way," Cassandra said to Shepard.

Taking the lead, she led them towards the ruined building in the distance.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Temple of Sacred Ashes**_

"The Temple of Sacred Ashes." Solas murmured as the group picked their way through the charred and scorched environs.

"What's left of it." Varric muttered.

Shepard stopped to take in the damage all around him.

He'd been at ground zero of a few explosions over his career with the Alliance and unbidden the images of the immediate aftermath of the Dracon Trade Center bombing on Illium eighteen years prior sprang to Shepard's mind as he observed his surroundings.

The damage done here was a hundred times worse than anything he'd seen before.

More than half of the ancient structure was gone. Broken pillars and tons of rubble littered the ground and a layer of ash and soot covered them all like a blanket. There were also lots of charred remains of those who had been caught in the blast, some of them frozen in their last acts before death had claimed them. Strangest of all were red crystals that were growing out of the ground like glowing spikes.

"That is where you walked out of the Fade and our soldiers found you." Cassandra informed Shepard, breaking him out of his study of what remained of the temple. "They said a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was."

There were several relatively fresher bodies around the area Cassandra was showing him.

 _The victims of my HMWP's security protocols._ Shepard realized.

"I'm sorry," he apologized to the men he'd unintentionally massacred as he knelt by their bodies. "If I'd known what I was coming to - where I was coming to - I would've holstered my pistol." Shepard lamented.

"You could not have known." Solas consoled the Spectre.

"All Spectres know about the security measures built into HMW gear, we know what they can do." Shepard refuted, turning his head to look at Solas, who was standing off to the human's left. "That's why we keep a keen eye on them when we're out in the field and actively using them. Even in an unknown environment, enemies closing in on me or no, I should've exercised more caution. These men paid the price for my amateur mistake." The marine turned back to the bodies. "A fate that they didn't deserve." _I'll make sure that you didn't die in vain. Even if it kills me, I_ _ **will**_ _close the Breach. This I swear._ he silently vowed before he rose from the ground and moved to join the others.

Cassandra led them through a mostly intact hallway that lead to their destination. The Breach loomed over them once it was visible again, looking even more imposing and menacing at point blank range.

"The breach is a long way up." Varric murmured, craning his head upwards to take in the thing that they'd come here to close.

Shepard couldn't help but agree.

 _No getting around it. This is going to be an absolute_ _ **bitch**_ _to seal._

Wrapped up in his thoughts and mental preparations for the task ahead, Shepard didn't see Leliana enter the ruins behind them with some soldiers in tow until she spoke up from right behind him. "You're here! Thank the Maker."

"Leliana, have your men take up positions around the temple." Cassandra ordered.

Leliana nodded her head before she walked back to her people to give them their orders.

Cassandra looked to Shepard next. "This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?" She asked.

Shepard turned back to the Breach. Using Charge, he could get to the upper parts of the temple, putting him a little higher, but still too far from the green maelstrom above them. _If ever there was a time to be like that ant with the rubber tree plant..._ "I'll try, but I don't know if I can reach that, much less close it," he earnestly responded, being completely open with her.

"No. You need only focus on the rift." Solas informed Shepard. "This rift was the first and is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach."

"Then let's find a way down. And be careful." Cassandra advised.

Shepard looked over the stone railing he was standing by to judge the distance to the ground. _Not that far compared to some of the jumps I've made over the years._ Under normal circumstances, he would have jumped already and used his biotics to slow his descent. But with the mark disrupting the tech in his body, he wasn't sure if he could do it safely. _Old fashion way it is, then._

Following Cassandra, who seemed to know her way around the ruins, the group slowly made their way down.

They had only gone a little way when a voice - low and deep - suddenly emanated from the rift. "Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice."

The group paused at the sound.

"What are we hearing?" Cassandra asked as she turned to look at Solas.

Shepard also turned to look at the elf.

"At a guess: The person who created the Breach." Solas responded.

Uneasy with what was going on, but knowing that they needed to get to the bottom, Shepard was the first to move. The others followed his lead as he passed two archers that were in position overlooking the rift. A little further along there were more of the strange crystals jutting out of the ground and floor.

Intrigued, the marine walked in close to have a closer look, one hand slowly reaching out.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Starborn!" Varric called out before Shepard's fingers could touch one of the growths.

Shepard turned his head. "What are they?"

"Red lyrium. I don't know what it's doing here-"

"Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the temple, corrupted it." Solas theorized, breaking into Varric's sentence.

"-but don't touch the stuff. It's evil!" The dwarf finished, all but spitting out his last few words.

 _Sounds like he learned that from personal experience._

"And lyrium is?" Shepard queried, but he took a step back from the crystals while he waited for an answer

"It is a substance that, in its processed form, restores a mage's powers when they are drained and aids those without the gift to restrict magic's use." Solas supplied. "But contact with it in its raw form can, at best, drive you mad and at worst, kill you. "

Any further questions on Shepard's part were stopped when the voice they'd heard before spoke again from the rift. "Keep the sacrifice still."

Straight after, a new voice was heard, this time feminine. "Someone help me!"

From her place just ahead of him, Shepard saw Cassandra freeze. "That is Divine Justinia's voice!" She exclaimed.

Now determined to get to the bottom of what was going on, Shepard continued along the path they were on until he found an area where he could safely jump down into the pit.

The Divine's voice rang out again as he recovered from the jump. "Someone help me!"

"What's going on here?"

Shepard's head snapped up to the rift at the sound of his own voice.

 _So, I made it to the Temple at least, but why don't I remember anything else? !_

His thoughts were broken by Cassandra, who had turned to look at him upon hearing the marine's voice coming from the rift. "That was your voice. Most Holy called out to you. But…"

A flash of white from the rift blinded them all for a few moments.

When the brightness faded they were suddenly surrounded by ghostly images. To his left he saw an elderly woman dressed in the same red and white garb that he'd seen Roderick dressed in - though Justinia's were a little more ornate then the Grand Chancellor's, befitting her status as the head of the church - being held by red energy streams that wrapped around her arms. A large dark figure with glowing red eyes loomed over her menacingly.

Straight ahead of him, Shepard saw his own ghostly form run into the room. "What's going on here?"

"Run while you can! Warn them!" Ghost-Justinia called out to Ghost-Shepard.

The monstrous figure pointed a finger at Ghost-Shepard. "We have an intruder. Kill him. Now."

A second flash of white light occurred and when it faded the figures were gone.

 _What the hell! ? !_

"You were there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?" Cassandra whirled on him, the look on her face demanding answers from him.

"I told you; _I don't remember! !_ " Shepard snapped back, his patience threadbare with all he'd seen and heard in the past few minutes.

He could make neither head nor tail of it all and it left him feeling unsettled and confused.

"Echoes of what happened here. The Fade bleeds into this place." The elf cut in to explain to the two humans what it was that they'd just witnessed. "This rift is not sealed, but it is closed… albeit temporarily. I believe that with the mark, the rift can be opened and then sealed properly and safely. However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side."

"That means demons. Stand ready!" Cassandra signaled to the archers, including Leliana, that were posted around the higher levels of the room. They responded by stringing their bows and making sure that their quivers were close at hand for the fight to come. Once done, Leliana nodded back to Cassandra who in turn looked to Shepard, who was looking at the rift.

Shepard's eyes took in the rift that he had to close. Unlike the rifts they'd encountered on the way to the Temple thus far, this one was easily double in size. _Lord, give me the strength to see this through to the end,_ Shepard said a silent prayer to his maker as he prepared himself for what was to come. _And should I fail, may I find myself at Your side in Heaven._

His peace made, he extended his arm to begin the process.

The moment his energy beam hit the rift, it sprang open and something was spat out.

 _Holy Mother!_ was all the marine could think as their next foe took shape before them and Shepard had to crane his head to see it in its entirety.

The thing was massive, easily rivalling a Brute in size. And like the turian/krogan hybrid, it was covered in thick armoured skin and seemed to be slow in its movements.

"Now!"

The archers loosed a volley of arrows at Cassandra's shout, some of them penetrating the beast's skin but the majority bounced harmlessly off it's tough exterior.

 _It'll be dangerous at CQB if you get too close to it. Those arms look like they could tear a krogan apart easily. Work in its blind spot, attack from behind. Reave and Flare would work best against it to bring it down quickly._

In hopes of learning this particular demon's name, Shepard glanced at Solas with his head tilted in a curious manner.

"Pride demon." Solas said in answer to Shepard's silent question.

 _Makes sense I suppose, pride_ _ **is**_ _the most common transgression of the seven deadly sins, after all._ Even he wasn't innocent of that particular emotion, such as when he had graduated from the ICT program with top honors and top of his class. _This thing is a physical representation of that._

His observations complete and seeing that the archers were no longer firing, Shepard moved in to engage.

"We must strip its defenses! Wear it down! Quickly! Disrupt the rift!" Cassandra called to him.

Reaching his arm out, he used the mark once more.

But he was surprised this time to see that when the energy beam made contact with the rift, the rift surged with the energy before redirecting it towards the demon. The beast roared in pain when it was struck and fell to its knees

"The demon is vulnerable – now!"

Following Cassandra, Shepard skirted around to the demon's back while Cassandra focused on its head and eyes, hoping to blind it before it could get its bearings back. Several more of Leliana's people - warriors - joined in. Working together they managed to hack off sections of the demon's hard skin and get to the softer flesh beneath. Every time the beast was on the verge of recovering, Shepard disrupted the rift and brought it back to its knees.

But then the status quo changed.

Behind him the Breach - and by extension the rift - surged again and several more demons, Shades, were spat out and joined the fray.

"More are coming through the rift!" Cassandra alerted all the combatants on the battlefield.

Shepard turned to deal with the smaller threats, and the Pride demon started to recover without the marine constantly disrupting the rift to keep it off balance. His inattention to the larger threat's regained equilibrium cost him; the Pride demon seized its opportunity and closed in on him before it backhanded him and sent him flying back across the length of the ruin. His impromptu flight was halted - violently - when he hit a rocky outcropping on the far side of the room and his vision dimmed for a moment as he slid down the wall painfully.

"Shit, Starborn!" Shepard vaguely heard Varric shout out as stars danced in and out of the marine's vision.

Without synthetic adrenaline to help him recover, it would be a while before he was back on his feet and back in the fight. _Another rookie mistake. You never take your eye off the top priority target until it's dealt with! Idiot! ! Stupid, stupid, stupid! ! !_

"Solas, help him!" Cassandra called out to the elf as she and another shield carrying warrior dealt with the Shades.

Shepard saw Solas use his magic Charge to cross majority of the distance between them before running the rest of the way.

"Are you all right, Captain?" He asked as he knelt by the marine's side.

"Been better." Shepard bit out as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

Solas handed him a flask that was filled with some sort of liquid. "Here."

Shepard took it. "What is this?"

"A healing potion. Drink." Solas instructed.

While he was sceptic, Shepard had to remind himself that the elf had watched over him while he was recovering. _If I'm the only one that can close this thing, I doubt that they'd try to poison me before I'd finished my task._ After a minute of debating and hesitation he took a breath, took off the lid and then downed the contents.

Instantly he began to feel better, the pain he was feeling beginning to ebb and his mind began to sharpen. When the pain in his body had faded enough he started to try and get to his feet. Solas offered him a hand when he faltered.

"Thanks."

"You are welcome."

Once he was sturdy, Shepard recalculated and changed his method of attack, focusing his mind on what he needed to do.

Seeing that Cassandra would be in danger from his next attack he called out to her, "Seeker, move!" Cassandra heeded his warning and moved to the beast's other side as Shepard sent out a sliver of biotic energy aimed at the creature's shoulder. The resulting explosion as the technique detonated inside the Pride demon blew its right arm completely off.

Even though he knew that it was petty and beneath him Shepard couldn't help but shout, "That's payback, motherfucker!"

The demon roared in agony and turned its focus from the warriors surrounding it to Shepard as it began lumbering towards him.

"Do it again, Starborn! Whatever you did, do it again! !" Varric frantically shouted from somewhere in the room.

It was then that Shepard saw that many of the warriors that had been fighting the demon were now staring at him wide-eyed, fear present in their eyes at the sight of what he'd done to their enemy before they returned to the fight with renewed vigor.

Heeding Varric's request, Shepard used Reave again, this time targeting the demon's chest.

The explosion removed a sizeable chunk of the behemoth's front. The Pride demon roared out again in pain and rage as it stopped moving in favor of covering its newest injury with its remaining arm.

 _Now the endgame!_ Shepard focused all his energy to power his biotics for his next attack before shouting, "Clear the area!"

His orders were heeded and everyone left the immediate area around the wounded demon. Once his biotics were as powerful as he could make them, the vanguard thrust out an arm and sent Flare on its way.

"Checkmate, beastie." Shepard growled just before the attack hit.

When the biotic explosion faded there were only a few chunks of the Pride demon left, scattered about the ruins.

Then a wave of exhaustion hit the marine.

 _And there's the drawback._

Shepard used Flare sparingly in fights because of the exhaustion period following its use.

In an active evolving firefight, that rest period of not being able to use their biotics could be fatal for a vanguard unless their squad was close at hand to cover their retreat to safety.

Solas regarded the suddenly ragged looking human. "I take it that your attacks have a cost, not unlike magic?"

"Depends on the technique used. And how do you know that I'm not a mage?"

After being labeled as a magic user despite his own protests that he wasn't one, Shepard found himself curious as to how Solas was able to definitively say otherwise.

"You do not draw from the Fade when you use your abilities as mages do." Solas said simply. "From what I have observed, it seems that your..." the elf trailed off, unsure of what word to use.

"Biotics." Shepard supplied.

"Biotics," Solas repeated, nodding his head in thanks for the correct term before continuing, "are generated from within your body."

"And you'd be right." Shepard told him, impressed by the mage's observations. "But now's not the time for further conversation."

"Indeed. The Breach is our top priority."

Leaving Solas at the edge of the ruins, Shepard strode to where Cassandra was waiting for him. Nodding to her, he stepped past her and looked up at the rift and the Breach above it.

 _Here we go._

"Now! Seal the rift!" Cassandra called as he extended his arm and raised his palm to the rift.

The second that the energy beam connected with the rift Shepard knew that it would be a struggle for him to get this done without passing out. But he'd be damned if he didn't give it his all like he always did before that moment in time.

When his left arm began to spasm, he steadied it with his right.

When his legs started to give way, he dropped to his knees.

When his heart began to race, he focused his mind to calm himself down.

When his vision began to dim, he closed his eyes and used his ears to listen to what was happening around him.

After what felt like an hour, but in reality, was only a few minutes, Shepard felt the rift surge before it snapped shut, a thin line of green the only proof that it was still there.

Beneath his closed eyelids, Shepard's eyes rolled as his body began to shut down and he fell to his side. In a last act of Herculean effort, the marine opened his eyes - squinting at first in reaction to the light streaming in - to see Solas kneeling at his side and talking to Cassandra and Varric, though he couldn't make out any words, who were approaching them.

 _Mordin, Thane, Kaidan, if this is the end, hope you've got a hero's welcome ready for me..._

Then, as before, he saw nothing as the darkness rose up to greet him like an old friend.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"Chuckles, is he...?" Varric asked, sounding hesitant about voicing his question aloud in case the worst-case scenario had occurred, as Solas knelt by the prisoner's body and gently rolled him over.

Cassandra watched as the mage cast a spell on the human before focusing on his patient. There were a few moments of silence before Solas spoke. "He is fine, Master Tethras. Unconscious, but alive."

"And the Breach?" Cassandra asked the apostate.

Solas turned to look at her. "It is not sealed, but it is now stable. With more power behind the mark, I believe that a second attempt will succeed in sealing it completely."

"You're sure Starborn's okay, though?" Varric asked again and Cassandra fought the urge to round on him.

She was sure that the only reason the dwarf insisted on calling the prisoner by the ridiculous nickname he'd given him was to irritate her further.

"With the Breach stable, the mark should no longer threaten Captain Shepard's life and his implants should start to function normally again." Solas assured the dwarf. "I suspect that he may be back on his feet for you to question in a few days."

"Cassandra?" Leliana called out to the Seeker from her vantage point and Cassandra heard her silent questions.

Cassandra turned to look up at the Left Hand. "He is fine, Leliana, and the Breach is stable. Not sealed, but stable."

She saw Leliana relax in relief. The prisoner would be no good to them dead if they needed him for another attempt at the Breach.

And while she believed that he was lying - delusional even - with weaving his ridiculous stories about being from another world, she no longer believed that he was at fault for the Conclave.

"I would advise that we get the Captain back to Haven as soon as possible, Seeker." Solas spoke, bringing Cassandra's attention back to the mage and the man he was caring for. "We should fashion a stretcher."

"Understood. Leliana?"

"Consider it done." Leliana turned away from the railing to locate the needed materials.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

In short order Leliana and her people had fashioned a litter and brought it down to Cassandra.

Carefully they transferred the prisoner onto it and lifted him out of the pit, though not without a fair amount of struggle in order to do so, and then out of the Temple completely.

Once out back in the snow, the procession slowly made its way back to Haven.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Acronym Index:**

HUD; Heads Up Display

HMWA; Spectre - Master Gear Assault Rifle

HMWP; Spectre - Master Gear Heavy Pistol

HE; High Explosive

HMW; Spectre - Master Gear

CO; Commanding Officer

CQB; Close Quarters Battle

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Authors Notes:**

The security protocols on Spectre weaponry and the different take on Reave are both from LuxDragon's writings. Used with permission

Now I'm sure all that have just read this are saying 'A vanguard can't do (insert biotic technique)!' or 'A vanguard doesn't have adrenaline implants!' or 'A vanguard only carries shotguns and pistols!'

Let me explain; I may have said JJ is a vanguard and he refers to himself as one, but really, he's multi-class as he's picked up different skills over the years of his career. When he enlisted in the Alliance he trained as a soldier so he uses all weapon types and got his adrenaline implants. When he was rebuilt by Cerberus Miranda noticed his eezo nodes and cultivated them, turning him into a biotic and his time with Miranda, Jacob, Jack, and Samara meant he learned their different techniques during the suicide mission. His time while under house arrest after Bahak was spent learning Nova, Javik teaches him Dark Channel and Aria taught him Flare while they were taking Omega back from Cerberus.

And given that Starborn is set after the end of Mass Effect 3, he's had a fair amount of time to hone those techniques to be quiet powerful.

I also need to give a HUGE **HUGE** shout out to the wonderful geeky-jez.

Most Sollaven fans will know her for fanfiction works such as Bread Wolf, Bake You and Tranquility as well as her cannon Inquisitor; Isii.

Not only did she do JJ's tarot 'The Emperor' that is my poster for Starborn and some illustrations for the story (once I make up my mind) which I will link to for those who want to see them.

She has also been a wonderful sounding board for my various questions about how to make Starborn's premise work smoothly and believably that people will want to read it and recommend it to others. Indeed I owe even deciding to post Starborn in the first place to something she said on her tumblr blog when I was unsure if anyone would want to read my story.

Starborn is as much your baby as it is mine, Jez.

I can't thank you enough, my friend.


	4. Milky Way I

**Milky Way I**

 _ **Location: Serpent Nebula / Widow System / orbiting around energy anomaly / SSV Normandy SR-2**_

Miranda sighed as she entered the CIC and stepped up to the command post.

Around her, the mood was somber.

The time she'd allotted to remain in the system was now up.

Tapping the Galaxy Map, she zoomed out of the Widow System and the Serpent Nebula. Then she selected the Annos Basin and zoomed in on the system's relay. To her left, at the XO's station, Garrus watched the Galaxy Map as well, a grim look covering the turian's features, his mandibles tucked tight against his jaw.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Miranda asked the turian.

"Centurion's fighter is being secured in the hanger as we speak," Garrus informed her. "We're ready on your order."

Miranda knew that the squad and crew would not take the decision to leave without Shepard onboard well, but as acting CO she had a responsibility to the ship. Her hand hovered over the holographic display as she fought with herself whether to press it or not.

' _Damnit Jon! Don't make me do this!'_

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **4 days earlier**

Shepard stepped out of the elevator and into the CIC, his XO a few steps behind him as he stepped up to the command post.

"I still don't think you should be going out there alone. Or at all," Miranda told her CO for the umpteenth time since he'd told her of his intention to see the anomaly up close and personal in one of the Normandy's shuttles.

"Yeah, you've said that already. Several dozen times, in fact," Shepard noted wryly. "I'll be fine, Miranda. EDI will take all the readings and measurements we need and relay them to the Normandy. I'll just be taking the shuttle out to get a closer look."

Miranda narrowed her eyes at his statement. "Which you don't need to do. EDI can get her readings from here. You shouldn't risk yourself just for the sake of sating your curiosity, Jon," she chided her CO.

"Need I remind you that you said the same thing about Legion?" He pointed out. "And look what we learned from him."

"Legion was on the Normandy. And he was somewhat familiar to us," Miranda argued. "This thing is a complete unknown. And in space."

Seeing that Shepard wasn't going to be deterred from his course of action, Miranda sighed and let the matter drop as she took up her own post.

"How are we doing, Joker?" Shepard asked the Normandy's helmsman.

With the relay in the system designated as low priority on the repair roster following the crippling of the relay network at the end of the Reaper War, they'd had to travel to the Widow Systen via FTL from the Annos Basin, which meant they could only spend about a week in the system before beginning their return trip.

"I've set up a circuit two click's distance from the anomaly." Joker reported.

"EDI? Matthews? You picking up anything?"

The holographic representation of the Normandy before Shepard changed to the energy anomaly that he and his ship had been sent to investigate. The anomaly had appeared in the system two months ago, and fearing that they were seeing a kickback of the Crucible, the Council had tasked the Normandy with determining if it was something that they should be worried about.

"And is there any relation to the Crucible's energy?" Miranda asked in addition to Shepard's questions.

"Comparing my initial scans of the anomaly to the Crucible's output... Scanning... Scan complete. My analysis is that this anomaly has no relation to the energy the Crucible disseminated through the relay network."

"So what is it? How was it created? Where did it come from?" Shepard asked his questions in rapid succession.

"I require further data, Shepard," EDI responded.

"Start your in-depth scans, then."

"Beginning scans." EDI informed dutifully.

Shepard turned to Miranda as he stepped down from the Galaxy Map. "In the meantime, I'll head down to the hanger. The conn is yours."

Miranda said nothing in return, instead shaking her head in exasperation.

"We'll be laughing about this over dinner tonight, you'll see." He chuckled as he stepped into the elevator. "I'll be back in thirty."

As the doors closed, he heard Miranda address the ship AI, "EDI, can you call Garrus to the CIC."

"Calling Mr. Vakarian to the CIC."

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"Cortez." Shepard greeted the Armoury Chief as he stepped into the hanger and made his way towards his weapons locker to arm up.

"Captain," Cortez returned the greeting. "The Kodiak's ready to go. You sure you don't want a co-pilot out there with you?"

"I'm sure. I shouldn't be out there long, anyway." Shepard replied distractedly.

"Still don't know why you're arming up, though." Cortez mused as he watched Shepard do a quick last minute check of his gear. "Nothing out there trying to kill you."

Shepard, who was in the process of clipping his M-490 Blackstorm to his weapon's harness before moving onto his HMWSR Sniper Rifle, paused for a moment and then shrugged. "Old habit, I guess. Don't usually leave the Normandy without something equipped."

"Fair enough." Cortez acquiesced. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Right." Shepard chuckled as he slipped his HMWP Pistol into a specialized thigh holster on his left side before equipping his HMWSG Shotgun and HMWA Assault Rifle to his hardsuit.

Making sure that he had a full stock of thermal clips and grenades, he finished his prep by strapping his combat knives to his right thigh and left boot. After he was finished, Shepard unclipped his helmet from his belt and put it on as he strode towards the Kodiak - checking his HUD to make sure that his hardsuit was in normal working order as he moved.

"See you in a half hour," the N7 stated as he passed Cortez, who was standing by the shuttle's open hatch, and stepped into the cockpit.

"See you in half an hour," Cortez replied before Shepard closed the hatch.

Striding away from the powering up shuttle, Cortez called out to the others in the hanger that were using the gym. "Clear the hanger! Hanger bay door is about to be opened! I repeat; the hanger bay door is about to be opened!"

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"I take it you weren't able to sway him from doing this?" Garrus questioned Miranda as he took his post to the left of her.

"You know Shepard. Once he sets his mind to something, it takes nothing short of an act of God to turn him away from his chosen course."

"What's the human saying? Curiosity kills the bat?"

"Close enough." Miranda responded. "Though speaking of cats, Jon does certainly seem to have nine lives given how many close calls he's survived over the years, that's for sure."

"Or he has a really good guardian angel watching over him." Traynor chimed in.

Garrus glanced between the two women, looking decidedly perplexed at their words. "I've heard Shepard talk of angels; something to do with his religion. But nine lives? The turian is lost here."

Traynor chuckled.

"It's a human idiom." Miranda explained. "Because cats seem to be able to survive life threatening situations without a scratch, they're often said to have nine lives."

"Though technically, the Captain is down to eight lives now." Traynor pointed out.

"True enough." Miranda agreed before sighing. "I just wish he would stop tempting fate so much, Cerberus isn't around to rebuild him, again."

Garrus chuckled at that.

"Have you met the man?" The turian asked rhetorically after a moment of mirth. "The day that _that_ happens will be the day the galaxy implodes."

The whole of the CIC's staff laughed at that statement.

Miranda just shook her head in bemusement, her eyes shining with her own silent laughter.

"Kodiak to Normandy. You reading me, Miranda?" Shepard's voice came over the ship's comm.

"Loud and clear, Jon." Miranda responded, turning serious.

"This thing is like nothing I've ever seen." Shepard reported. "I'm no scientist, but the readings EDI is getting are off the charts."

"And again, I reiterate that you don't need to be out there."

"Killjoy," came his humoured reply. "Honestly, I don't know why you're worried. Nothing's happ-"

Shepard's transmission with the frigate was suddenly cut off.

"Jon? Jon, do you read me?! Jon!?"

All she heard was static.

"Mathews? Hadley? What just happened! Report!" Miranda demanded.

"The anomaly just surged in power, ma'am. It must've made contact with the shuttle and fried its systems." Matthews responded from his station.

"I'm not getting anything from the Kodiak, ma'am." Hadley reported. "Propulsion, communications, weapons systems, eezo core; all dark. Everything's offline-"

"Uh-oh..." Matthews broke into Hadley's sentence.

Miranda's feeling of dread rose sharply.

"Report!" She barked again.

"The anomaly just surged again, ma'am. It's drawing the Kodiak in." Matthews reported.

Before Miranda could say or do anything, Joker's voice came over the intercom, "Everybody hold on!" The helmsman called out as he steered the Normandy towards the anomaly.

"You sure that's a good idea, Joker?" Garrus asked. "If that thing fried the Kodiak, it might do the same to the Normandy," the turian warned.

"It's a risk we have to take." Miranda broke into the conversation. "Floor it, Lieutenant Moreau. Get us to the shuttle."

"Aye, aye, ma'am. Flooring it."

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

The Normandy broke her orbital circuit and aimed her nose at the anomaly and put full power to her thrusters as she began a hard burn to try and catch up to the ensnared shuttle and retrieve it.

The frigate was about halfway to the anomaly when it surged for a third time, this time radiating a bright light.

When the light faded, the Kodiak was nowhere to be seen.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"What do you mean 'the Kodiak's gone?'" Miranda asked, repeating EDI's announcement to her following the third surge.

"I can no longer detect Shepard's beacon, or any trace of the Kodiak." EDI reported.

"How is that possible?" Miranda demanded.

"I do not know."

"What about the anomaly?" Garrus queried.

"It is still there, but it is now dormant. It should be safe for us to approach without being affected," EDI informed the group.

"Do it." Miranda ordered.

"Aye, aye. Approaching the anomaly." Joker acknowledged.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

The Normandy continued speeding towards the iridescent green cloud, but when the frigate reached the anomaly, she passed through it harmlessly and emerged on the other side no worse for wear.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"What do we do now?" Garrus asked Miranda after EDI had reported in.

"For now, we stay in the system for the next few days and try and figure out what just happened." She replied before addressing Joker. "Resume previous orbit, Lieutenant Moreau. Hadley, Matthews, EDI; keep all sensors on the anomaly at all times. If it so much as sparks, I want to be informed."

"Aye, aye. Resuming course," Joker acknowledged.

"Yes, ma'am." - "Aye, aye, ma'am." - "As you wish, Executive Lawson."

"And if we can't find and retrieve him before time runs out?" Garrus asked, drawing Miranda's attention back to the ship's second officer once her orders had been acknowledged.

Miranda said nothing, but they both knew what would need to happen if that occurred.

And neither of them liked it.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

By dinner, word had spread through the entire frigate of what had happened to the Kodiak, and by extension, Shepard.

"Shepard's missing?!" Tali demanded as she stormed into the mess hall. "When!? How!?"

Garrus moved to try and calm his wife down, guiding her to one of the nearby tables before he began to tell her all the information he had about what had happened.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"And there's no sign of him?" The quarian fretted when Garrus had finished talking. "At all?"

Garrus shook his head. "None."

Tali was silent for a few minutes.

"Why don't we talk to EDI?" Kasumi suggested.

The petite Japanese woman had appeared in the mess hall at about the halfway point of Garrus' explanation and had sat down to listen, though the normally bubbly thief was a great deal subdued - just as affected by the news of their fearless leader's disappearance as everybody else.

"You said that EDI had sensors on the shuttle the whole time, right?" Kasumi asked Garrus who only nodded his head in accordance.

Kasumi turned back to Tali, putting an arm around the younger woman's shoulders to offer comfort to the distressed quarian, "We can take a look at the data she got, see if there's anything in it that the others may have missed."

That seemed to focus Tali.

"We can do that." She agreed. "But there's a couple of things I need to do first before we get started. Can we meet in the War Room in an hour?"

"Sounds fine," Kasumi nodded her head before she left the table to line up to get her dinner.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

After she'd eaten dinner with a somewhat somber squad and crew, Miranda made her way down to Deck 4 in the elevator, down the stairs into lower engineering and then out into the Shuttle Bay.

"Centurion?" Miranda called out once she'd entered the hanger.

"Here," Tali's voice answered in lieu of the geth's.

Miranda found Tali surrounded by the Normandy's geth squad, who were all listening to what she was saying intently. The squad's leader, a geth Juggernaut, turned its head to look at Miranda at her approach, it's three whitish-blue optics focusing on her.

"Lawson-Executive." Centurion greeted her in its low synthetic voice-tone. "Creator Tali'Vakarian has just informed us of Shepard-Commander's Missing-In-Action status. Permission to help in the effort to locate him?" Centurion requested, it's head flaps shifting to convey the massive platform's agitation.

Centurion, along with its small squad, had been part of Shepard's bodyguard team whilst he was recovering on Earth after the end of the Reaper War, so him suddenly vanishing now no doubt didn't sit well with the synthetics.

In honour of what Legion had done to give the geth individual sentience, many geth had had their headflaps changed to the movable configuration - the improved communication with organics being a pleasurable side-effect. The geth collective also continued to call Shepard by Legion's moniker for the respected Spectre despite the man earning his Captain's rank after the war in recognition from the Alliance for all that he'd done for the galaxy.

Centurion's team had also changed their body paint to match the Alliance's colours once they'd come aboard the Normandy.

"That's actually what I came down here to ask, Centurion," Miranda informed it. "I'd rather not risk our last Kodiak or any other members of the crew to the anomaly if it becomes active again. Permission granted. You can start at oh-six-hundred in the morning."

"Understood, Lawson-Executive."

"Permission to accompany you when you deploy, Squad-Commander?" Ghost - a Hunter platform - asked its leader.

The Juggernaut looked down at the smaller unit. "Permission granted, Ghost-Unit."

"Thank-you, Centurion. For doing this, I mean." Tali said softly to the geth.

"We are a part of Shepard-Commander's team, Creator Tali'Vakarian." Came Centurion's matter-of-fact response. "We know that Shepard-Commander would not hesitate to do the same for any one of us, if we were missing. We are simply following his example. Nobody gets left behind," Centurion repeated Shepard's mantra.

"Oohrah!" Crosshairs - a Sniper platform - intoned as it had heard Shepard do before.

"Oohrah!" Centurion and the rest of the geth squad echoed in their electronic voices.

Miranda found herself choking up at the show of camaraderie from the synthetics towards Shepard.

"Oohrah," she quietly intoned.

As worried as she and the crew were about him, they at least still had each other while Shepard was on his own, possibly crashed on some unforgiving, God-forsaken planet, potentially badly injured and bleeding out...

Miranda shook her head to try and clear her mind of the treacherous thoughts.

Shepard was an N7, she had to remind herself. His training in the ICT and Alliance basic had covered how to survive if a marine ever found themselves stranded in a new environment.

' _He'll be fine.'_

' _He has to be.'_

' _He has to be...'_

The Normandy was his ship, one name rarely said without the other. Shepard of the Normandy. Shepard vas Normandy, as Tali would say.

' _Wherever you are, however long it takes; I_ _ **will**_ _find you and bring you home, Jon. This I swear.'_

"Miranda?" Tali's voice broke Miranda from her thoughts and she turned to see the quarian looking at her, her body language expressing her worry and concern with everything that had happened. In a move that surprised Miranda, Tali stepped forward and hugged her.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Local Cluster / Sol System / Citadel / Presidium / Silversun Strip / Silver Coast Casino**_

 _Galactic Year: 2189CE_

"One word for you; Sanctuary." Shepard told Miranda in response to her question as they slow danced on the dance floor.

"Sanctuary?" She half repeated, half asked.

Given how close they were to each other as they moved, many onlookers assumed that the fetching pair were a couple. While there had been a few moments during the suicide mission where the pair could have begun a relationship, they couldn't be further from the truth. They'd certainly had the chemistry for it, but Shepard had known, just as she had, that he was rebelling after Ashley's mistrust of him on Horizon.

And so he'd remembered his honour and had chosen to remain faithful to Williams. However, even a man like Shepard, who was patient, loyal and fair for the most part, had his limits. Ashley's continued mistrust of him and his loyalties that had come to a head during Cerberus' failed coup had caused a fracture between them could never be healed. They had both gone their seperate ways shortly after the coup.

Unbeknownst to all, Bailey and Ashley had started seeing each other after that and the pair had married a month prior.

When the news of Shepard's discovery - and subsequent survival from what had happened there - on the Citadel had spread, Miranda hadn't hesitated to track him down so that she could offer her aid, knowledge and expertise to Huerta's surgeons with Shepard's operations and recovery.

During his recuperation, they'd discovered that the spark between them was still very much alive and kicking, but once again they hadn't acted on it as he'd focused on his PT and she on helping the Alliance as they had begun to rebuild humanities' war-torn home planet.

Once the frigate - along with the faster ships of Sword and Shield - had arrived back in the Sol System in late 2188, Miranda had come back aboard the Normandy at Shepard's request to resume her duties as XO.

"What happened on Horizon hit a little close to home for her - your confrontation with your father, I mean," Shepard's voice snapped her from her thoughts.

"Given her history with her own father, seeing you refusing to bend to Henry Lawson's will and demands struck a chord in her," Shepard explained as they continued their orbital circuit.

"You and Oriana didn't see it, being in the Med-bay getting checked out and all, but when we got back to the Normandy, she sequestered herself in the Port Observation deck bar and... ah... started drinking turian brandy. Traynor gave me the heads up with what was going on so I kept her company until Garrus arrived to take care of her. While we were waiting for him she told me that, although she disliked you, she respected your courage to defy your father," Shepard told her.

"I think her friendliness now is an extension of that," he continued. "Though if you tell her any of what I've just said to you, you might have to put me back together after I get blown to bits when my shields fail at a critical moment in a firefight."

Miranda rolled her eyes and raised a hand to smack his chest. "You've dug your own grave if that happens, Jon."

Shepard gave an exaggerated wince in response to the hit and Miranda raised an eyebrow at him as if to say 'Really?'

Chuckling, Shepard darted forward to give her cheek a quick peck.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Serpent Nebula / Widow System / orbiting around energy anomaly / SSV Normandy SR-2**_

Much like with Jack, a respect had grown between the two women in the years that had passed since the end of the Reaper War. They'd never be BFFs, but there was a friendship there now where there had been nothing but doubt and mistrust on Tali's part given what Cerberus had done to the Migrant Fleet before.

To that end, Miranda awkwardly returned Tali's embrace before the two women parted and went their seperate ways.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

One of her tasks done, Tali turned away from Miranda and strode towards the Armoury. She began to perform maintenance on her weapons in hopes of distracting herself from worrying about their absent Captain, though her eyes fell on his and Ashley's secure lockers where the two Spectres kept their weapons.

Following the end of the war, the Council had inducted many new Spectre agents to bolster their flagging numbers. Wrex had petitioned the Council for a few of his own people to be included, which had met with a great deal of controversy and resistance - especially considering that the Spectres had been created in response to krogan expansion making the Council uneasy.

Shepard, though, had not hesitated to back the Urdnot clan chief.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Local Cluster / Sol System / Citadel / Presidium / Council Chambers**_

 _Galactic Year: 2188CE_

"Need I remind you, Councilor," Shepard started, his gaze squarely on Sparatus, "That the krogan helped your soldiers hold off the Reaper ground forces while Palaven was evacuated during the war. Not to mention that they fought to help races that wouldn't have done the same thing for them. The krogan have paid for their mistakes. And what better way to show that they are trying to get past their bloody history and work towards a harmonious future with the other races then to allow them to join Spectre ranks."

"The krogan helped in the Reaper War, but they did the same in the Rachni War too," Valern informed Shepard. "We are at the unknown part where the krogan might expand again with the Genophage cured. People are going to fear that." The salarian continued in a warning tone. "Giving them more power could only make things worse. They've proven themselves as fighters, but not politicians."

Tevos put her hand up to stop Valern from saying anything more before the four Councilors voted. The new human Councilor, Dominic Osoba, was the last to input his vote.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"I'm sorry, Wrex. I know it's not exactly what you wanted..." Shepard started to say once they'd left the Council Chambers.

"No, I get it." Wrex shook his head. "Baby steps. The galaxy still fears what my people did. Thanks for the support, Shepard."

"Least I could do, even if it didn't work out."

The pair lapsed into silence for a bit before Wrex spoke again.

"I hear that Zorah is about to become Vakarian in a week's time." Wrex informed his human friend to draw their conversation away from what had just occurred.

Shepard laughed. "I was asked to pass on a message from Tali: she wants the crazy head-butting uncle she never had to be at her bonding ceremony."

"Tell her that I'll be there. Wouldn't miss it - what was it that I heard Williams say once - for the world?" The krogan gave one of his deep, rumbling laughs.

"Spot on," Shepard laughed.

They continued walking through the Presidium on the way to C-Sec HQ where they would catch a shuttle back to Earth.

"You must be relieved that the Normandy's finally back in the system." The Urdnot chief commented as a few Alliance marines passed them on their way to the elevators.

"Words can't properly express how I feel." Shepard responded earnestly. "I'll feel even better though, once I'm cleared for active duty and I can get back in the thick of the action."

Wrex smiled. "And that's why you're an honorary krogan, Shepard. And a hero to my people."

"I thought that was because I rescued Bakara from Cerberus and then cured the Genophage." Shepard joked.

Wrex chortled. "That too. You would've been a good krogan if you'd been born as one of my people." The krogan told his human friend.

"I admit, having a second set of vital organ's would have been _really_ handy when the Collectors tore the original Normandy apart. Though Cerberus mighten've touched me with a ten foot pole when I bit the dust." Shepard mused before shrugging. "Ah, well. There's always reincarnation, I suppose. Though you'd better watch your tail, old man, if that happens. You might find that your harem's eyes start wandering to a handsome young upstart that's suddenly appeared in the Urdnot camp."

"Ha! Keep dreaming, Shepard." Wrex shot back before tilting his head. "Rein-what?"

"Re-in-car-nation." Shepard sounded the word out syllable-by-syllable so that Wrex could hear it properly before he explained what the term meant. "Some human cultures believe that when you die, you're reborn into another form. So I could become a krogan. Though if that happens, they may need to change the little ditty that I've been hearing about recently."

"Little ditty?"

" _You can fight like a krogan, run like a leopard. But you'll never be better then Commander Shepard,_ " the grounded Spectre recited.

Wrex began to roar with laughter.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Serpent Nebula / Widow System / orbiting around energy anomaly / SSV Normandy SR-2**_

Her calibrations done on the shotgun and heavy pistol and seeing that both were in perfect working order, Tali returned her weapons to their compact state and left them on the table before leaving the hanger, sending a message to Cortez about what she had done.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Kasumi was already in the War Room - though since the end of the war, it had become the squad's new conference/meeting room - when Tali arrived and was poring over the data EDI had given her in hopes of finding something, however small, that would point them to their missing leader.

"Anything?"

"Maybe?" Came the thief's distracted answer. "EDI, can you pause the footage and rewind thirty seconds?"

The AI did as directed.

"Now can you enhance the image."

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **3 days earlier**

"Shepard's MIA?" Admiral Steven Hackett's holographic image repeated Miranda's words back to her. "How? When?"

Miranda had tossed and turned most of the previous night, only getting a few scant hours of sleep.

When oh-seven-hundred had rolled around, she'd made her way to the Comm Room and asked EDI to contact Hackett so that she could personally inform the Admiral of what had happened to Shepard. EDI had brought her up to speed with the information that Tali and Kasumi had dug up while she'd made her way from her room in the SOQs - where the old Starboard Observation room had been - on Deck 3 to the Comm Room.

"I don't know, Admiral," Miranda told the man honestly. "One moment we were talking to him, the next, the anomaly had fried the Kodiak's systems and drawn him into it. That's the last we saw or heard from him. The Normandy attempted to follow, but we passed through the anomaly harmlessly. As for when, a day ago, sir."

"I'll contact Councillor Chan and petition PACT to dispatch a RRTF team to the Widow System immediately." Hackett informed Miranda.

Following the end of the Reaper War, the multi-species alliance that had been forged to defeat the machines had been turned towards a new purpose. The Milky Way Accord, or MYA, had been written and signed by the Citadel races with the addition of the krogan, quarians and geth. Following the treaty's creation, the Peacekeeping Alliance Coalition - PACT - had also been brought to life.

A single member of each race had been chosen to make up the governing Council of the newly formed organisation, who would decide how and where to deploy the respective branches of PACT as the galaxy started to put itself back together.

The creation of the Relay Restoration Task Force had been the first act of the PACT Council, with the best engineers and scientists of every race coming together to learn how to fix the crippled Relays to restore fast travel across the Milky Way.

"Now, what can you tell me about the anomaly, Commander?" Hackett asked in his usual brisk, military manner.

"It's artificial but extremely powerful. According to EDI's analysis, it isn't related to the Crucible's output at all, and likely appeared here as a result of a surge of whatever it comes from."

"Any way of tracking the anomaly back to its source?"

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Nearly three-quarters of an hour later found the Normandy's XO - now acting CO - making her way through the mess hall on her way to her and Liara's shared office. Upon leaving the Comm room, EDI had informed her that Centurion and Ghost had started their investigation of the anomaly in their own geth fighter craft and had sworn that they would keep in constant contact with the frigate.

"I'm not interfering in, interrupting and/or disturbing anything I'll regret seeing am I?" Miranda announced her presence to Liara as she strode into the room.

When Miranda had resumed her duties as Shepard's XO, Liara had surprised her by asking the human woman to work with her and become co-Shadow Broker.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Local Cluster / Sol System / Earth / North America / Canada / Vancouver / Alliance Spaceport / Dry Dock / SSV Normandy SR-2**_

 _Galactic Year: 2188CE_

"I'll be blunt: I would like you to work with me," Liara said.

Miranda crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the asari's declaration. "As an agent for you?"

"No, I said work **with** me, not for me," Liara clarified. "As a partner."

At that, Miranda was shocked. "As the Shadow Broker?" She asked as she leaned back in her seat, considering the opportunity that was being offered to her.

Being the Shadow Broker was something that could tip the balance of power in her favour for once. It would be like everything she had done in Cerberus... except that she wouldn't answer to anyone but herself. It would be her choices, with her consequences... a chance to control her own destiny. Maybe even prove to herself that she was more then what her late father had created, more than her looks and her biotics. The culmination of perfection and imperfection that Shepard had always said she had.

Already, the possibilities seemed endless.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Serpent Nebula / Widow System / orbiting around energy anomaly / SSV Normandy SR-2**_

"You can look. Javik isn't here."

The other surprising thing, given Shepard's reports about how the Prothean and asari had nearly come to blows following the groundside events on Thessia during the war, was that Javik and Liara had become a couple sometime during the Normandy's trip back to Earth.

Shepard had accidentally walked in on them in an intimate moment once - and had beat a hasty retreat once he'd realised the fact, though according to Chakwas, the N7 had been quite red-faced whilst doing so - and so had started the exchange that Miranda had just stated upon entering to hopefully prevent a repeat.

"Still nothing?"

Miranda shook her head. "How soon can one of our Normandy-class ships be in the system?"

When Liara had taken over the Shadow Broker's empire after killing her predecessor in 2185 she discovered that the yahg had had six Normandy-class ships commissioned for his armada. And that the last of the ships had been put through it's shakedown run just prior to them kicking in his ship's doors over Hagalaz.

"I've not long heard from the Canrum. Feron has completed his last mission and is awaiting new orders."

Feron had been given command of one of the new ships, the ISV Canrum - named after the Battle of Canrum during the Krogan Rebellions.

"Fill him in about what's happened to Shepard and tell him to prep his ship for long deployment. I want him here ASAP to keep vigil over this thing once we leave. Then see if we can set up a rotation with the rest of the six so we have eyes and ears in the system constantly."

"Consider it done." Liara stated, but as the former Cerberus loyalist made to leave, the asari called out to her. "Miranda."

Miranda paused in the doorway at the call of her name, though she made no move to turn and look at the maiden.

"Are you alright?"

The asari, like the rest of the crew, had noticed that the CO and XO had been slowly becoming much closer over the last few months. Scuttlebutt had even said that the pair had become a couple just prior to them getting their current assignment and shipping out.

But Liara had been around the two humans long enough to know that they were still only just friends. But that didn't mean that Miranda couldn't be - wasn't - just as distressed by his absence as everyone else. The Normandy's crew were just as much a family as they were a team, after all.

As Shepard himself had once said to Javik, "The Normandy's crew have been through a lot together. That kind of thing bonds you in ways that you can't really explain."

"I'll be better once Jon's located and back on board," was all that Miranda said before she left the room.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"Still no sign of Battlemaster?" Din asked Miranda as he ambled up to the line to get his lunch.

Miranda turned to regard the young krogan.

The firstborn child of Wrex and Bakara, Urdnot Mordin - named in honour of the late Dr. Mordin Solus - was a splitting image of his father with his mother's eyes.

Din, like all of the krogan children born after the Genophage cure had been released, had grown up listening to stories about Shepard's exploits and had idolised the human warrior even before he'd met him - at the tender age of ten - in 2197 when the Normandy had made the first relay to relay jump to the Krogan DMZ since the end of the Reaper War.

So when he had passed his Rite of Passage two years prior, he had immediately chosen Shepard to be his Battlemaster and had joined the Normandy's crew and Shepard's squad.

Wrex had wholeheartedly approved of his son's choice, not only because he'd be learning from the best, but that by having a krogan on the Normandy he hoped to show that the krogan people were not falling back into old habits and were trying to take the steps to show that Shepard's - and the galaxy's - trust in them was not misplaced.

Din, like Grunt and Wrex before him, was always eager for a fight and was the squad's heaviest hitter. That dependancy, teachings and expectation from Shepard - as well as Wrex to represent the new face of the krogan people to the upmost of his ability - had greatly matured and settled the seventeen year old young male during the time he'd been on the Normandy.

Often Shepard and Din - and occasionally Vega and Garrus - could be found in the hanger together talking about how the previous mission had gone while working on maintaining their respective weapons or in the War Room discussing battle tactics and strategy.

"Not yet," Miranda responded as Gardner gave her her tray of food and she made her way over to where Liara and Javik were seated.

"Hey, Junior," Vega greeted Din as krogan and human took a seat a few places down from the two women.

"Vega," Din returned the greeting before he started to eat.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Before she turned in for the night, Miranda returned to the CIC.

"Has Centurion returned to the ship?" She asked EDI as she approached the Galaxy Map.

"He has not," The AI reported.

"Open a channel to his ship, please." Miranda instructed.

"Establishing connection, Commander Lawson."

The holographic image of the Normandy changed to a vid-call screen when Centurion accepted the communique.

"Lawson-Commander?" The Juggernaut queried, it's flaps conveying curiosity as to why the frigate would be contacting them.

"I'd like you to return to the Normandy for the night shift, Centurion," Miranda requested.

"With respect, Lawson-Commander, we do not require sleep as organics do. We can continue to search and patrol for Shepard-Commander while off-duty Normandy crew gets their required 'rack' time," Centurion stated more then protested.

"I'm well aware of that, Centurion. But I'd still prefer that you only do your patrols during the day shift so that we can come to your aid if something happens. I don't want a repeat of what happened to Jon if I can do anything to stop it," she stated worriedly.

She'd already failed Shepard, she refused to repeat her mistake when the crew's safety and well-being was now her responsibility, refused to let the man's faith in her be for nothing with how the Alliance and Council had protested him making her his XO once again after the Reaper War.

"Understood, Lawson-Commander. Executing command. Joker-Lieutenant, EDI-Unit, prepare to open the hanger bay door for our approach."

Once EDI reported that the geth were on board Miranda left the CIC, heading to her quarters.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **2 days earlier**

"Is something wrong, pater? You and mater seem upset." Livitia Vakarian asked her father via the QEC, which broke Garrus from his thoughts to look at her.

Once he and Tali had been bonded, they had spoken at length of adopting a couple of youngsters displaced and affected by the war.

When the Apien Crest had been made travelable again in 2198, Palaven's orphans had been their first chance to add to their little family. The then twelve year old spunky young caramel skinned and light grey plated turianess child had caught his and Tali's eye immediately.

In the same fashion, the Normandy's crew had taken to the sparky youngling soon after, though it had taken Livitia a little time to get used to her new extended family in return. But most surprising of all to the new parents was that Shepard had seemed to connect with their newly adopted daughter within a few days of meeting her.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location:**_ _ **Apien Crest / Trebia System / in orbit around Palaven / SSV Normandy SR-2**_

 _Galactic Year: 2198CE_

"I know what she's going through because I've walked every mile," Shepard explained to Garrus as they sat in the mess hall while Chakwas checked Livitia over. "Few outside my family, Ashley and Miranda know this, but I was an orphan myself until I was fourteen."

Garrus' jaw practically hit the floor.

"Careful, Vakarian. You'll catch flies," Shepard noted as he took a sip of his coffee from his commemorative mug - though the cup's writing was now almost completely gone from when he'd first been given it by his crew after they'd returned from the Galactic Core.

When Garrus found his voice again he blurted out, "You? An orphan?!"

"My birth mother left me on the doorstep of one of Vancouver's orphanages when I was just barely two hours old," Shepard told his friend without batting an eyelid. "But I was lucky, despite my gang days, to be found by someone who could see that I could be better then the life I was leading if given the chance. Akamai knows that, too."

"Akamai?"

"Polynesian word, means clever or intelligent." Shepard explained before grinning at his turian friend. "Suits her, don't you think?"

Garrus chuckled in agreement before taking a sip of his own drink.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Serpent Nebula / Widow System / orbiting around energy anomaly / SSV Normandy SR-2**_

Garrus took a breath, as he tried to figure out how to break the news of Shepard's disappearance to his child as gently as he could.

But when he drew blanks, he opted for a simple, "Shepard is missing."

Instantly Livitia's mandibles began to open and close rapidly, a sure sign that turians were agitated or upset. "Patrinus is missing? When?! How?!"

Like he had done two days prior with Tali, Garrus explained what had happened to the first human Spectre.

"And you haven't found a way through the anomaly?" Livitia asked when her father had finished speaking.

Garrus shook his head. "It's been dormant since it took him. Centurion and it's ship have been trying to see if they can provoke a reaction from it but so far nothing's happened."

His daughter took on a pensive, concentrated look as she fell silent for a few moments, looking away from him. When she looked back at him, there was a determined glint in her eyes. "Can you-"

"No, Livitia," Garrus cut her off with a firm tone of voice, knowing what she was about to ask.

"I can help!" She protested.

"I know you can, carissima," Garrus responded, his tone softening. "But leave this to the Alliance and the two Councils. Hackett already knows, and is no doubt already organising something. Once Primarch Victus gets word, I'm sure the Hierarchy will get involved as well. You focus on your training and military work, leave this to everyone else."

Livitia sighed, relenting. "I understand, pater."

"Your mother and I will keep you in the loop. I know how much you look up to Shepard," he said consolingly.

"Thank you." She gave him a grateful look before something on her end caught her attention. "And I've got to go. I'll talk to you in a few days?"

Garrus nodded his head. "We should be starting heading back to the Annos Basin day after tomorrow."

"Alright. Love you, pater."

"I love you too, filia."

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"We've just finished repairing and restocking the Canrum. We'll be leaving the dry dock in a few hours," Feron informed Liara, before pausing, "Still no sign?"

The asari shook her head. "None."

Like everyone who had been informed of the respected human's MIA status, Feron had been dumbfounded.

"Shepard's missing? Well, shit?" had been his response to being informed when Liara had contacted him with his new orders.

The different reaction to the news had brought a smile and - much needed - laughter from the information broker.

"He's tough, Liara. I'm sure, wherever he is, he's fine." Feron said, bringing Liara back to the present.

"That's what we've all been clinging to," Liara responded honestly, "But…"

"It doesn't stop you all from missing him," Feron finished for her with an understanding tone. "Well, while this is déjà vu, searching for him like we did before and all, at least he's alive this time. And I won't end up on the bad side of the Shadow Broker because of searching for him. Or at least, I hope I won't," He amended, knowing how close Miranda and Liara were with the first human Spectre.

His words drew another laugh from Liara. "Thank you, Feron. And safe journeys."

Feron smiled. "No troubles, Liara. And same to you."

With that, the drell signed off to finish his preparations before the Canrum left the Citadel.

Hearing that the mess hall was starting to fill up with hungry crew, Liara chose to leave her room to get some food of her own. Collecting a tray from Gardner, she sat down at one of the tables.

"Doc," Vega greeted Liara as he and Cortez sat down next to her with their own meals.

"James. Steve," the asari returned the greeting before she began to eat, listening to the conversations around her and observing the crew interactions, both romantic and platonic.

Unsurprisingly, with everything that the Normandy's crew had been through, romantic bonds had formed between some of them. Shepard had once joked, with the Normandy filled with so many couples, that he was going to have to talk to Alliance command to get the frigate's name changed to the SSV Love Boat. And while Liara hadn't understood the reference, nor any other of the alien crew members, his fellow humans had, and he'd received various reactions from them as a result.

"Hey, Vega." Ken's Scottish burr was heard as the engineer took a seat at the end of the table, his fellow engineer and now wife, Gabby right behind him, bringing the asari maiden from her thoughts. "Poker tonight?"

The burly marine looked up from his food before he looked in the asari's direction . "I'm game. Ash, Doc, Esteban, you in?"

"Count me in." Ashley responded. "Don't forget about the other Doc, though."

"What about you, Commander?" Vega asked Miranda as she took a seat next to Liara. "You in for poker?"

Miranda shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, Lieutenant, but I'll pass. I have reports I have to see to."

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

An hour later found James, Cortez, Ken, Gabby, Ashley, Liara, Patel, Goldstein, Kasumi, Chakwas and Tali gathering around the poker table in the Port Observation room.

As they took their seats, however, one seat was left vacant - the seat that Shepard usually took when he played.

The group said nothing as they settled in until Vega broke the silence, "So, who's ready to loose all their creds to yours truly?"

Cortez rolled his eyes at the familiar pre-match bravado Vega put forward. "You talk the talk, Mr Vega. Rarely do you walk the walk. I believe our resident CMO cleaned you out last game. The Captain the game before that."

"I still can't believe how well you play, Doc." Ashley remarked to Chakwas as Ken handed out the cards. "You and Jon always seem to be the best players here."

"I'm sure that those who know the story have shared it." Chakwas responded.

"First patient fresh out of medical school." Kasumi said, having heard the story from Tali.

"Yeah, but Loco never keeps it. You know that he gives back everyone's money at the end of the game." Vega responded to Cortez's taunts.

"So he can reel you in during the next game. Lather, rinse, repeat." Cortez shot back. "When ever will you learn?"

"Garrus asked him once, when the Normandy was about to disband after Bahak, why he never took his winnings." Tali spoke up, ignoring the mock argument between Cortez and Vega, who continued their bickering.

"I'll learn when you beat me, Esteban. Which is never." Vega paused as his words sunk in. "Wait, that came out wrong..."

"Insult backfire at its finest, Mr Vega." Cortez crowed at his victory. "That's what you get when you don't think before you talk!"

"Yeah?" Gabby asked the quarian with interest, also tuning out the two squabbling men. "What'd Shepard tell him?"

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Omega Nebula / Sahrabarik / en-route to Omega / Normandy SR-2**_

 _Galactic Year: 2186CE_

With the crew of the Normandy about to disband, they had started reminiscing about the mission and swapped stories and anecdotes. One story Garrus had overheard the crew talking about was when Shepard had once played Skyllian-Five with a few people. By all accounts, he had cleaned up in that game. When he was done, though, he had given his money back to them and left.

On a whim, Garrus asked him why he did that.

Shepard just shrugged, "I'm the CO. Never put yourself in a position where you take anything from your subordinates. Not unless you can give it back. It's already more than enough that they're giving you their lives."

Garrus had never regretted becoming friends with Shepard and that was just one of the many reasons why.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 _ **Location: Serpent Nebula / Widow System / orbiting around energy anomaly / SSV Normandy SR-2**_

"Jack doesn't call him 'King of the Boy Scouts' for no reason." Chakwas commented as she took a look at her cards. "A true Paragon, if ever there was one."

"Until you piss him off, then 'Hello, fire and brimstone!'" Ashley chuckled.

"As every idiot who thinks they can pull a swift one on him has found out the hard way." Tali said sagely.

"Oohrah to that!"

The table's occupants all laughed or chuckled before they settled in to play cards.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

As they played, Liara didn't fail to see everyone glancing at the empty chair, as if they were expecting Shepard to appear and join the game.

Tali also restrained herself from activating the Shepard VI program she had on her Omni-tool, which, under normal circumstances, was brought out to either rattle her fellow players if the Captain wasn't playing or to annoy Shepard if he was, knowing that what was usually an innocent prank might not go down well in the current circumstances.

They played for several more hours, with Chakwas, once again, being the nights victor, before retiring to their respective quarters.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **1 day earlier**

Against her better judgement, Miranda allowed the Normandy to remain in the system for one more day.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

"How're you holding up?" Bailey asked Ashley as she paced around in front of the QEC.

The Comm room had been used near solidly since Shepard's disappearance so Ashley had had to wait for her turn to let her husband know of what had happened.

"It feels strange, not to see him in one part of the ship or another," Ashley freely admitted. "I keep entering the hanger, Liara's office or the Med-bay or any other area expecting him to pop up. But he's not… he-he's not…"

Bailey saw his wife start to break down and his heart went out to her. "Damn, I wish I could be there."

"Not much you could do even if you were. I'll be okay so long as I can keep my mind occupied," she assured him.

"That mean your Spectre gear has probably had a number of check overs by now?" He asked her wryly.

"As well as half the armoury," she responded with a wry smile of her own.

Bailey laughed before turning serious. "Does the Council know?"

She shook her head. "No, Lawson wants to keep it under wraps until we get back, tell them personally…" Ashley trailed off as a thought occurred to her and a hand shot to her mouth as she stopped dead and turned to look at Bailey's holographic image.

"Oh, God…" she gasped.

"What? What is it?" Bailey asked in alarm.

"In all the commotion… the Council aren't the only ones we'll have to tell in regards to Jon's disappearance. Mama Rosa, Jean and Gale..."

"I can do it, if you want," Bailey offered without hesitation, having met Shepard's family years ago when his mother had invited the Normandy's crew and their loved ones to a banquet feast at the family's property outside Vancouver so that she could get to know the people her son worked with. "Take a shuttle to Earth this afternoon."

"No," Ashley shook her head. "Thank-you, but no. This is something that I have to do myself, I owe them, and Jon, that much. Though it's going to tear them up something fierce. Ma came close to shutting down after the Collector ambush when Anderson and I went to tell her."

"At least he's MIA this time around," Bailey pointed out.

"For now," Ashley stated. "But how long before the Alliance and the Council lose interest in trying to find him and declare him KIA, again?"

"Considering all the powerful friends Shepard has, not to mention how famous and adored he is after stopping the Reapers, I suspect they'll face a lot of outcry and protests if they do that too quickly. And if the press were to get ahold of those intentions…"

Ashley laughed. "Playing nice with the reporters for once, Armando-Owen?"

"I owe JJ my life," Bailey responded matter-of-factly. "They do too, though they're damn quick to forget that when it's convenient."

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

Maintaining her weapons had always been a way to relax for Ashley, to focus her mind on something else other then what was happening around her. As she'd admitted to Bailey, her Spectre weapons were already calibrated and in perfect working order, had been several times over, but after her talk with her husband she felt the need to do something with her hands, so she had trekked down to the hanger to run the checks yet again.

Cortez had greeted her as she collected her weapons from her locker and placed them on one of the nearby work tables before she began to work. A whine followed by a nudge to her leg brought Ashley out of her focus as she worked on her sniper rifle and she looked down from the work bench to see a worried set of brown eyes looking up at her.

"Hey there," she bent down and greeted the dog as she scratched behind his ears.

In all the worry about Shepard, almost all had forgotten about his faithful canine companion, Toby. When Shepard's PTSD had flared following the end of the war, the marine had applied to get a Service Dog to help him cope while he - and the rest of the Hammer forces on Earth - had waited for Sword and Shield to return.

There had been a few protests from Alliance command when the marine had applied to allow the dog to accompany him on the Normandy when he'd returned to active duty, but Shepard's Spectre status, and the backing from the Council, had allowed him to overrule the Alliance and put one more member on the Normandy's crew roster.

His first companion; Jessica - a Kelpie/Border Collie cross - had become a much loved member of the frigate, if she wasn't with Shepard, she was with some other crew member, within reason - Miranda was one of the few who wasn't a dog, or pets in general, person - being treated like royalty.

Sadly, Jessica had passed on several years prior requiring Shepard to ask for a new dog.

The boisterous and cheeky German Sheperd had been his new match, and Shepard, nor his crew, hadn't failed to see the humour of one Shepard taking care of another. Like Jessica before him, Toby was accepted by the crew and spoiled rotten.

Another whine from the German Sheperd followed by him pawing her leg brought Ashley back and she left the table to kneel on the ground in front of the dog. "You're missing him as much as the rest of us, huh, boy?"

From what Cortez and Vega had said, Toby had seemed to know instantly that his master was gone and had been inconsolable, howling for hours after Shepard had been taken by the anomaly and only stopping once exhaustion had set in. Since then, the dog had refused to leave the hangar, looking up at every visitor to Deck 5 with hope in his eyes that they were bringing good news about his human only to fall into despondency when they had nothing.

"Jon's an N7," Ashley told Toby. "That means he's tough and smart. Wherever he is, I'm sure he's okay. Probably found himself in a situation that only he could, but okay."

Toby responded to that by laying down on the deck and covering his head and eyes with his paws, which drew a laugh from Ashley.

"I think that's what we **all** feel when he does stuff like this, so don't worry," She informed him with a pat to the head. "He'll be back, and you can chew on his shoes to tell him off, deal?"

That earned an affirmative bark and an offered paw to shake.

With both human and canine feeling a little better, Ashley returned to her HMWSR and Toby sat at her feet as she worked.

Once she was done, she stowed her weapons in her locker and said goodnight to the dog before heading for her bunk in the Crew Quarters.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **1 hour ago** __

Miranda woke on the final day after another restless night.

After having a shower and a quick breakfast, she made her way up to the Captain's Quarters on Deck 1. Shepard had given her access to his quarters years ago, so the door hissed open as she approached it, allowing her to enter unobstructed.

Once past the door, she stopped taking in the room and its stillness.

Normally, Shepard would be returning from the gym at this hour and would have a quick shower and change into his uniform before heading to the mess hall for breakfast. If she had anything urgent to bring to his attention she would usually make her way up here and travel back down with him, but the room was devoid of any activity.

Just like it had been for the past four days, and would remain for the foreseeable future.

"Where are you, Jon?" She softly asked the room. "Why can't we find you and bring you home?"

Nothing but silence was her answer.

With a soft sigh, she made her way further into the room, past his personal terminal and ship model collection, to take a seat on the sofa. She sat quietly, studying the familiar neat and tidy presentation of Shepard's living quarters.

Shepard's adoptive mother; Rosanna and her late husband, Nicolas, had also been Alliance marines before they had left the military to try and start a family and had run their household in a similar fashion, expecting her three adopted children to keep their rooms neat and organised at all times.

The only thing that was out of place now in the Captain's room was before her on the coffee table; a piece of 16 count cross stitch fabric, mottled blue in colour, in its hoop, the image on it half finished, the design's printed pattern beside it and a box that held Shepard's DMC embroidery floss skeins to the left of the hoop.

It had come as quiet a surprise to the squad and crew when they had learned that their CO was quite the embroiderer, not just with cross stitch but with long stitch and candle wicking as well, having taken it up when he was a teen to try and keep himself out of trouble once he'd been adopted into the Shepard family.

Indeed, he'd copped a bit of teasing in the wake of the discovery, but it had soon died down in favour of curiosity, since, with FTL the new norm of travel and travel times going to days, weeks and/or months instead of hours and days when the relays had been functional, evenings working on his latest project had become a familiar sight for those who sought him out in his quarters for one reason or another.

His latest article of work, a representation of the Milky Way, was, from what she understood, to be a part of some sort of collage.

As she studied the unfinished piece she remembered that he'd mentioned off hand to her a week ago that some of his supplies were getting low. A plan formulating in her mind, she leaned forward in her seat before she addressed the Normandy's AI, "EDI, can you take an account of the skeins, see what colours Jon is low on, as well as any other supplies he was going to order?"

"Shepard has done that already, Commander Lawson." EDI responded. "The list is on his personal datapad, which is located in the-"

"-top drawer of his desk." Miranda finished for the AI, already aware of where Shepard kept the aforementioned device. "Thank you, EDI," she said to the AI as she stood up. "Though that is something I'm going to have to get used to; being called Commander instead of Executive," she stated softly.

"Executive Vakarian expressed something similar a few days ago." EDI informed her.

"I can imagine. That's all for now, EDI."

"Logging you out, Commander."

Striding purposely to Shepard's office, she retrieved the datapad and copied the list within to her Omni-tool. She'd talk to the crew and squad about purchasing the needed bits and pieces later, in hopes of bolstering their spirits from what was about to happen.

A knock at the door drew her attention, followed by Garrus' flanging voice, "Lawson?"

"Enter," she called out, not looking up from the datapad.

The door opened and the turian entered.

"Checking out your new quarters?" Garrus quipped in greeting.

Miranda rolled her eyes before levelling a look at her second in command, not saying a word.

"So we're committing to this?" He asked, all humour gone from his voice.

"We don't have a choice. Our supplies are already tight enough as it is."

Sighing, Garrus took off his Kuwashii Visor to rub his eyes.

"You know that this is what he would do in our place. And unlike the Collector Base, he's not going to pull a miracle out of his ass and appear out of nowhere just in the nick of time, as much as we've been hoping and praying that that would happen again and this would all be solved."

Garrus snorted at that.

"I don't want to leave him behind, either, but the responsibility to the ship and crew is now on our shoulders."

Slipping his trademark visor back into place, Garrus straightened. "I understand. Orders, Commander?"

"Make sure Centurion and Ghost are back on board. I'll be down shortly."

Nodding his head, Garrus turned and left the room.

Once the turian was gone, Miranda returned to the main part of the room to pack away the cross stitch into the storage box that Shepard kept his needlecraft in and tucked it away beside the sofa.

That done, she took one last glance at the room before leaving for the elevator.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Present**

Miranda sighed as she entered the CIC and stepped up to the command post. Around her, the mood was somber.

The time she'd allotted to remain in the system was up - overdue now, in truth.

Tapping the Galaxy Map, she zoomed out of the Widow System and the Serpent Nebula. Then she selected the Annos Basin and zoomed in on the system's relay. To her left, at the XO's station, Garrus watched the Galaxy Map as well, a grim look covering the turian's features, his mandibles tucked tight against his jaw.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Miranda asked the turian.

"Centurion's fighter is being secured in the hanger as we speak." Garrus informed her. "We're ready on your order."

Miranda knew that the squad and crew would not take the decision to leave without Shepard onboard well, but as acting CO she had a responsibility to the ship. Her hand hovered over the holographic display as she fought with herself whether to press it or not.

' _Damnit Jon! Don't make me do this!'_

She knew what Shepard would do if their positions were reversed. What he expected of her, personal feelings aside. Her mind made up, she touched the holographic representation of the relay, setting their course out of the system.

Jokers voice came over the comm immediately after the coordinates appeared on his Nav screen. "Wha-? We're leaving the system? Without Shepard?"

"We don't have a lot of options, Lieutenant. We've already exceeded the time we were to spend in the system. Wherever the anomaly took him, it's not letting us follow. At least for now."

"Yeah, but-" the flight lieutenant tried to protest.

"What do you think Shepard would want us to do, Joker?" Miranda interrupted, knowing what the Normandy's helmsman was about to say. "Stay and run out of supplies or leave and return? We've done all we can for this trip."

"Miranda is right, Jeff," EDI's voice was heard over the comm, trying to soothe her partner's distress at leaving their Captain and long time friend. "Shepard would not want us to linger in the system with our stores so low."

The helmsman said nothing for a few minutes.

Eventually, he broke his silence. "Setting a course for the Annos Basin relay. Going to FTL," he announced, though it was clear from his tone of voice that he didn't want to say the words.

Miranda felt the same way.

' _We'll be back, Jon,_ ' _s_ he reiterated her silent vow from a few days ago.' _Wherever you are, however long it takes; I_ _ **will**_ _find you and bring you home._ '

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

The Normandy broke the orbital circuit she'd been following for the past few days, though it was done slowly, as if the ship herself was fighting the action knowing that her true commanding officer wasn't on board. However, eventually she flashed forward as she jumped to FTL and left the system to begin her two month journey back to the salarian home system.

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Acronym Index:**

PT: Physical Therapy

SOQ: Senior Officers Quarters

CMO: Chief Medical Officer

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Latin terms:**

Pater: Father

Mater: Mother

Patrinus: Godfather

carissima: dear

filia: daughter

::::::::{}==[] ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ []=={}::::::::

 **Authors Notes:**

So there's the story as to how JJ found himself in Thedas. Things from JJ side on Thedas will be mostly covered in the next chapter, outside of the memories that the Nightmare takes from the spacer from his time in the Fade.

PACT, Miranda being co-SB with Liara comes from LuxDragon's works, as well as the snippet about Liara making the offer and Garrus asking Shep about the Skyllian-Five game. Used with permission.

The previous SB having the Normandy-class ships - which look like the SR1 - commissioned is from Sharrukin's works. Used with permission.

I was inspired by the ME3 Multiplayer with a couple of my OCs; Centurion is a Geth Juggernaut Soldier and Din - though technically he's - in part - cannon I've just made him a reality - is a Krogan Warlord Sentinel-in-training.

And the little ditty JJ mentions - well I think most ME fans would recognise it - is 'Commander Shepard' by Miracle of Sound

So at this point, I'm going to explain what type of chaps will make up Starborn.

The first are Main Mission chaps - Wrath of Heaven ect - If they're in one location, then it will be a single chap, but for others like The Threat Remains and Here Lies The Abyss that have two or three stages they will take place over multiple chaps.

The second are Location which will cover time spent in a location and what happens there - including closing rifts, the location's main mission, side missions and Inner Circle missions.

The third are Interlude, which is basically time in Haven and later Skyhold talking to companions and getting missions and such.

The forth and last are what I've just written; Milky Way. These are basically what's happening out in the galaxy as the Normandy's crew and the rest of the galaxy wrap their heads around what's happened to JJ and their attempts to find the human.

All story DLC's will be included in Starborn as well, and will have their own chapters.


End file.
